From the Ashes
by Day Dreamer 62
Summary: When the Moon Cell's war ends and another begins, Hakuno finds herself unwillingly thrust into it. Summoned as a Servant, it is Hakuno's turn to play hero. Can she overcome both new and old obstacles to claim victory for her Master? Rated T for Language! Archer x Female Protagonist. Slight Shirou x Female Protagonist. AU and slight OOC.
1. Chapter One Summoning

**DD 62: I have decided to start another multi-chapter story. This is an Alternate Universe for the Fate series. The title is a work in progress and is subject to change. Any of you who have read the Fate/EXTRA A to Z that I collaborated with Twin Wavelength with will recognize this story. I decided I wanted to do more with the "C" chapter I wrote and came to the conclusion that I should write a story to continue it. There will be new and reoccurring Masters and Servants, so some you will recognize others you won't. I have taken great creative liberty here so let's see where it takes us.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or anything of the Fate franchise. All I own is a copy of Fate/EXTRA and this idea. Enjoy!**

**~xXxXx~**

Time seemed to move slowly as I floated patiently in the center of the Moon Cell awaiting my fate. I had done the impossible and defeated every Master-Servant duo that came my way. Each and every battle served to prepare me for the next and molded me into the Master and person I was now. In the beginning, my Servant had voiced his thoughts that I wouldn't survive the first round and was pleasantly shocked when I defied his opinion. As the weeks flew by, he watched as my prowess as a magus grew and my talent for battle flourish. It wasn't until the very last round that he made a comment that would ultimately shape our next meeting.

"I wasn't thrilled about being summoned by a seemingly hopeless Master but you managed to surprise me at every turn." He had smirked at my shocked expression. It wasn't often that he awarded me a compliment so I was always generally surprised to receive one. "I would hate to meet you in battle, Master. Luckily I'll never have to worry about that."

How wrong he was.

It's not like Archer meant anything by it, he was just stating that I had improved over the weeks. He could never expect the Moon Cell to find the idea intriguing.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. The story must be told in order of the events that took place after all.

We had just defeated Leo and Gawain when we were faced with yet another enemy. I never would have imagined running into the cyber-ghost of Twice H. Pieceman in the very heart of the Moon Cell. He explained in a rather long monologue how he had gained awareness in his own war and slaughtered each and every opponent assigned to him to achieve his goal. It wasn't until he had reached the 'Holy Grail' that he realized he could not enter to state his wish. Pieceman remained in the Moon Cell to wait for the day he would find one worthy of making his wish a reality. Many Masters had come and gone; none seemingly to be of the quality he was looking for. My struggles had caught his eye and it appeared that I had gained his favor and 'blessing' to bear his wish to the Moon Cell.

"Cast the world into eternal war, for it is the only way man can evolve."

Although flawed, Pieceman's theory on war wasn't too far off base. In times of struggle man rose above his defeat and adapted to survive. The idea of mankind in eternal war, however, was repulsing and ridiculous. How could man hope to thrive if he was continuously bombarded with battles and wars to focus on? Pieceman reasoned that the 'Survival of the Fittest' theory by Darwin would hold true during this time of strife. When it became apparent that I did not agree with his philosophy, Pieceman called forth a Servant of his own to oppose my ascent to the Moon Cell. A battle broke out and it seemed like in no time I had vanquished yet another opponent. Pieceman's face was unreadable as he slowly began to fade, never to return. This shook me to the core as I realized that this would also be my fate. Pieceman had said that NPC's would not be accepted by the Moon Cell and dubbed as invalid data. Even though I had won the war, I could not claim my prize without meeting certain death.

"I can't believe it. It's finally over."

I smiled happily at the dark haired girl that had quickly become my friend. Yes, all our fighting and struggles were finally at an end. All that was left was for me to enter the Moon Cell and use what little time I had to make a wish. Many thoughts whirled around in my mind as I took each step to the Moon Cell's center. I didn't hesitant to place my hand on the core. At the contact, I was teleported to what appeared to be an ocean of data and information. Wasting no time, I quickly typed out my wish and waited for my deletion. The voice of my Servant was comforting as the Moon Cell seemed to take its sweet time with my fate. After several more minutes of insufferable waiting, a stream of information came to me and took me to another part of the Moon Cell.

"Medical records?" I mumbled going over the information. My eyes widened as it became clear as to why I had not yet been deleted. The Moon Cell was calculating the possibility of the virtual me still being connected to the real me asleep on Earth. It was surprisingly humane of the system to try to find a solution to this dilemma. Does it kill its victor that was thought to be useless data or does it choose to let me live in the possibility that I would awaken one day?

"What a predicament. It seems like you are far more interesting than you let on Master."

I glared half-heartedly at my sarcastic Servant. How he could make jokes during this intense time is beyond me. Yet, it was somewhat comforting hearing him tease me. I would sorely miss his company when my fate took me and when his took him. No doubt we would never meet again and he would be called upon to serve another Master in another war. His fate was more definite than mine. That's a sobering thought. I didn't notice I was crying until Archer's hands cupped my face and gently wiped the tears from my face.

"Don't worry Master; I'll be right here with you until the end."

"How very gentlemanly of you." I managed to croak out. He smirked at my reply before pulling me into his arms. I stayed still for a moment shocked by his behavior, but soon relaxed in his comforting embrace. I buried my face into his chest and mumbled, "I love you, Archer."

His body tensed at my statement. Afraid that I had offended him in some way, I began to pull away when his arms tightened around me. I glanced nervously up at him. He had his face turned away from me so that I couldn't see it. I was about to attempt to apologize when he surprised me yet again. He turned his face back to mine and wore such a gentle expression that I hardly recognized him. His face drew closer to mine and I felt my face heat up and my heart pound loudly at the close proximity. With his lips just inches from mine, he whispered, "I love you too Hakuno."

Our lips met in an instant. I was surprised at how gentle Archer was being with this kiss. He had always seemed like he would be a passionate kisser but with the way his lips moved against mine was almost so tender it made me want to cry. The currents of data that surrounded us moved faster and faster as the Moon Cell had finally settled on a solution to its problem. I felt myself being torn from Archer's arms and shouted his name as data engulfed me and my vision began to darken. The last thing I saw was his anguished face as we both slipped away.

~xXxXx~

I had never felt as alone as I did now. Not even during the preliminaries. The darkness just seemed to go on and on in a never ending way. My body felt cold and numb. The fear I had felt in Julius's presence couldn't hold a candle to what I was feeling now. Was this what death felt like? Did this mean there was no after life? No happy ending for those who believed? What a rude awakening.

I stayed there for what felt like an eternity. Nothing happened or occurred. I couldn't see my body so I couldn't tell if I was moving my hands and feet or not. What a dull ending. I was expecting something grander or at least get to see those that I had defeated. No such luck. It seems like I was doomed to a dismal and lonely fate.

A tugging sensation caught my attention. It felt like a rope had been tied around my waist and was now attempting to pull me away from this dark realm. I gladly let it pull me away and towards a gradually growing light. The light had become too bright to keep my eyes open and they reluctantly closed. My body felt as if it was under extreme pressure almost like I was being shrunk down and split apart atom by atom. Slowly, each atom was brought back together reassembling me and the bright light started to dim. I could tell I was standing now and hesitantly opened my eyes.

I was indeed standing. I found myself in the center of a small building so disorganized that it couldn't be classified as a house. Several objects and what appeared to be boxes lay scattered around the floor obscuring my view of most of the room. A boy sat huddled before me with a shocked and confused look plastered on his face. His hair was an interesting shade of red and was cut short with some spike in it. His school uniform was disheveled and what seemed to be a blood stain covered the top left part of his jacket. This was certainly an unexpected event.

"What…who…?"

My lips moved before my mind had time to process what was occurring. "Are you my Master?"

He looked about as confused as I felt. The question I asked hung in the air between us. Did I just say what I think I said? Did I just ask if this boy was my Master? That would mean that I was-

A noise from behind caused me to whirl around. There stood a man wearing what looked to be a bronze chest plate and matching bottoms. His helmet prevented me from seeing his facial features. His eyes glimmered with excitement as he advanced towards me. I felt my hands clench into fists and felt the air around me surge with power. The weight of an object in my hands was temporarily overlooked when the man lunged at me. He shoved the head of a spear at me which I deflected with the object that had formed in my hands. I was surprised to see myself wielding a sword that seemed oddly familiar. It felt like it belonged with me on the battlefield. I pushed the man back and took a defensive stance in front of the boy. My opponent's eyes narrowed.

"So, you are the seventh Servant for this war. It would be foolish of me to attack you now. I shall be taking my leave then." The enemy Servant spun on his heels and briskly walked from the building never once glancing back to see if I was pursuing him. I turned my attention back to the boy. He was standing now but glanced nervously at the sword I held. As quickly as it appeared it vanished which seemed to calm the already frightened boy.

"Thank you for protecting me from that strange man."

"It is the duty of a Servant to protect their Master from harm. I was simply doing my job."

The boy cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean by 'Master' and 'Servant'?"

My jaw dropped to the ground. I was suddenly struck with pity for Archer. Was I this clueless at the beginning of my own war? Disregarding these feelings, I took a deep breath ready to explain the situation when another prana signature registered. "Someone is outside."

Not waiting for my Master to respond, I rushed out the door expecting to see the armored man again. I was struck with a sight I could never have guessed. There stood Rin Tohsaka and her Servant Lancer, the same Servant that had sacrificed his life to save his Master's and mine. I had to remind myself that this wasn't the same girl I knew and that no matter what I felt, this girl was an enemy and a threat to my Master. I felt the sword reappear in my hands and dashed forward at the unsuspecting Servant. I managed to land a hit on his chest before he summoned his lance to protect himself. He sliced at me causing me to jump away from him. I vaguely wondered where I learnt how to fight as our weapons clashed again and again. Neither of us gave the other an edge.

"Lancer, stop this instant!"

He gritted his teeth at the girl's command. "That wouldn't be a good idea my dear Master. If I let up now, what's stopping her from attacking you directly?"

"You're smarter than you look." I teased lightly. "However, if you pose no threat to my Master then I have no purpose in attacking yours."

"Tohsaka?"

All of us turned our heads at my Master's question. Again a look of confusion was spread across his face and again I was reminded of Archer. He really did have it hard with me as his Master. If this boy is anything like I was then I must've been an open book to my enemies. Lancer and I uneasily let our weapons disappear and we both took position in front of our respective Masters. Rin looked shocked at my Master and me before recovering and replacing her uncaring mask she so fondly wore.

"Emiya Shirou, so you're a magus and the seventh Master for this Holy Grail War."

"What do you mean by 'Holy Grail War'? And why do you guys keep calling me a 'Master'?"

She gave him an incredulous look. "You mean you don't know? You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into?!"

The now named Shirou cringed at her rising tone of condensation. I glared fiercely at the so familiar yet so unfamiliar girl. This girl acted eerily similar to the Rin I knew. I silently prayed that I wouldn't meet anyone else I knew from my own war, but knowing my luck the prayer would go unanswered. I focused my attention back to the conversation and managed to hear the last portion.

"This priest you speak of, the one who is supposed to monitor the war, what is his name?"

Rin flipped her hair behind her back. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

~xXxXx~

"Ah, Rin! It's so nice to see you."

I mentally groaned at the voice. It just _had _to be that inhumane priest Kotomine. Fate was surely laughing at me as our group entered the church. The air was filled with traces of prana and it gave it an ominous feel. It sort of reminded me of the chapel and the two sisters that were responsible for Alterations of the Soul. Upon inspection, I saw neither hide nor tail of the two and soon gave up any hopes of meeting them again.

"I'm not here on a social visit, Father Kotomine. I'm here to pay back a debt."

The dark priest laughed. "You owing someone a favor? I find that hard to believe." He glanced at my Master in mild interest. "Who might this boy be?"

"Emiya Shirou, the seventh Master of the Fifth Holy Grail War." Rin announced motioning with her hand. Shirou jumped at her comment and quickly bowed to the priest in respect.

"The seventh Master, you say? And who might you're Servant be?"

I spoke up before anyone else could. "Is that information necessary for your duties as moderator or is it a question to satisfy your own curiosity?"

Kotomine stared at me for a moment. A sly grin slowly made its way onto his face. "Well well, what a prudent Servant you are. Very well, don't tell me. It will become known what class you belong to in time." He gave his attention back to my Master. "I take it that you know nothing of the Holy Grail War that you are now a participant in?"

"Yes sir." Was his meek reply.

"Then I shall explain the rules and basics of the war to you. Now," He sighed, "where to begin? There are seven Masters that battle for the chance to have any wish granted by the Holy Grail, hence the name of the war. Each Master is given a Servant to be their sword and shield to fight for their wish. Servants can be classified into seven classes: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Caster, Rider, Assassin, and Berserker. Every Servant has their own set of skills and abilities to be used by their Masters in the duration of the war. The war is fought until there is one Master left standing. Only that Master may have their wish granted by the Grail. Do you have any questions?"

Shirou stood silent for a minute before speaking. "The Holy Grail can grant any wish?"

"Yes, anything the human mind can think up the Grail can make it happen. Take that disastrous fire that occurred ten years ago. The last victor of the Holy Grail War wished for it to happen and so it did."

Anger crossed my Master's face. I hadn't expected him to react so fiercely to the priest's statement. Did that fire Kotomine mentioned have anything to do with my Master? I decided not to voice my question at that moment. Better to wait for a time when we were alone and it was appropriate to ask.

"If you should ever find yourself without your Servant, you may come to this church to find safety. You will be most welcome here."

"I highly advise against that Master." I mumbled quickly to Shirou. If I didn't trust the Kotomine from my own war then I _definitely _didn't trust the Kotomine from this one.

"Thank you for explaining everything to me. We will be leaving now."

Kotomine nodded and turned his back on us as we began to leave. I felt someone's gaze upon me and quickly looked over my shoulder. A pair of red eyes stared intently at me. A sense of fright overwhelmed me for a second before being replaced with a sense of relief. The owner of the red eyes made me feel scared yet oddly safe at the same time. The thought that I may know the stranger crossed my mind completely puzzling me. Who in the world did I know that had red eyes?

"Thank you Tohsaka for bringing me here."

Rin blushed slightly at Shirou's earnest remark. "W-what do you mean by that? Don't think that I'm going to take it easy on you just because I helped you out this once."

"Then don't be surprised when we come at you full force." I smartly replied.

Lancer laughed at Rin's expression. "My dear Master, I do believe this pair will be interesting to watch. Plus," His eyes traveled up and down my body, "I wouldn't mind spending some time with another lovely lady."

"Lancer!"

His laughter echoed around us as they walked away from us. That pair was going to be difficult for me to fight against. I would have to push back my former opinion of Rin and focus on taking her and Lancer down. It would be hard but I felt like I could beat Lancer in a fair fight. I waited until they were far enough away from us before speaking to my Master.

"Shall we return to your house? As I am your Servant, I will ned a place to stay for the duration of the war."

"Yes, of course. You're welcome at my house." I nodded and we stared to walk in the direction of Shirou's home. A few moments of silence passed between us. After a while, Shirou cleared his throat and looked at me. "So, what class are you?"

"What class do you think I am?"

"Well, if your performance with that sword from earlier is any clue, I'd guess Saber. Judging by your appearance, however, leads me to believe I'm wrong in my assumption."

I blinked. All this time I hadn't given a second thought to how I looked. I had been too busy with everything that had happened; it never crossed my mind to see how much my clothing had changed. I hadn't expected to be summoned in my school uniform so I wasn't too terribly shocked by my new clothing. I wore a red cloak with the hood up concealing the top part of my face from my enemies. My torso was covered by a blue tunic and brown trousers protected my legs from the weather. My feet were in dark brown boots and look very sturdy. A belt - or perhaps a scarf? - was tied around my waist. It was an orangish-yellow color and the tips that dangled from my side were adorned in feathers. A silver bracelet was around my right wrist and both of my hands were covered by fingerless gloves. It was quite an elaborate get-up. All of it seemed familiar somehow.

"My class is Caster," I automatically replied. Well, I'm glad that I somehow know what class I am.

"What's your real name?"

"That's information our enemies can use against us. I'd rather not tell you anyway. Just call me by my class name."

"Alright then Caster, you can just call me Shirou. I don't feel comfortable being called 'Master' by a girl."

I grinned mischievously at him. "How very forward of you, Master, to allow me to call you by your first name." His blushing face made me erupt with laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I couldn't resist. I'll just call you Shirou from now on." He nodded his head in thanks and we continued on our way in comfortable silence. A new adventure awaited us both. Only time would tell if we would survive this endeavor.

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: I used some of the same things from the chapter I wrote from Twin Wavelength's Fate A to Z fic. I didn't expect to be so inspired to write this fic. I think I'll keep it going and see how it plays out. Won't you join me on this journey? Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Until we meet again.**


	2. Chapter Two Familiar Faces

**DD 62: This is my second attempt at chapter two. The first attempt was okay but I feel like I could do better. Let's see where this one goes. Also, I will hopefully be updating on the fifteenth and thirtieth of each month so be on the lookout around those dates! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or any other games from the franchise. I DO own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

I stared at the house we stood in front of. Upon first being summoned, I hadn't gotten a good look at the home of my Master. It was a modest Japanese style house with walls surrounding it. It didn't look like a house a high schooler would live in. Shirou reached into his pocket and fished out his keys. He found the correct one, reached down, and unlocked the door. I stepped inside after him and looked around. The light was on in the living room which meant someone else was here. I removed my shoes and crept down the hallway. A form came flying at me and slammed into me, tackling me to the ground in a hug.

"Shirou~! I'm so glad you're home! I'm sooo hungry!"

I blinked at the woman who currently was hugging me to death. Was that…Taiga?! The hyper active teacher rubbed her head affectionately into my chest. She stopped when she realized my chest wasn't that of a teenage boy's. Both of our faces were burning in embarrassment. Taiga quickly jumped up and stood awkwardly away from me.

"Taiga, is that you?" Shirou stared at me in confusion. "Caster, why are you on the ground?"

I clumsily stood up and glanced between the two humans. "U-um…uh…"

"EMIYA SHIROU! DID YOU BRING A GIRL HOME TO DO INAPPROPRIATE THINGS?!"

Shirou flinched at the woman's tone. I didn't think my face could get any more red. First she tackle hugged me and then she totally misunderstood the situation. The Taiga I knew and this Taiga were one in the same.

"Taiga, you've got it all wrong! She isn't just some random girl, she's my-"

I cut in hastily, "I'm his cousin." Shirou gave me another confused look but I pushed forward. "I'm visiting for a while and he said I could stay here." _Please, oh please, believe me!_

Taiga narrowed her eyes and stared at me hard. I felt myself growing nervous. A smile spread across her face and she hugged my again. "YAY! We have a guest!" She glared at Shirou. "Why are you just standing there Shirou? Go make us a delicious meal so we can celebrate your cousin's arrival!"

"Okay, okay." Shirou waved his hands in a calming gesture. He glanced at me worriedly before going into the kitchen. I guess Shirou was used to handling Taiga and her mood swings. Taiga tugged on my hand and pulled me over to the table. As soon as we sat down, she started to talk my ear off. She talked about anything and everything. She chattered away until Shirou stuck his head out of the door to the kitchen. "Caster, could you lend me a hand?"

"You're name is Caster?"

I sweat dropped at Taiga's star struck expression. "I-it's a childhood nickname. I never got Shirou to stop calling me by that." Standing from my seat, I went into the kitchen to assist Shirou. "How can I help?"

"Why did you lie to Taiga?"

I sighed in defeat. "Normal humans can't know about the Holy Grail War. If they find out about it, I would have to kill them to protect the secret of the magus world."

Shirou looked taken aback. "You have to kill anyone who finds out about the Holy Grail War?"

I cursed Kotomine. Although the priest explained the basics of the war to Shirou, he had left out some of the more crucial parts. The rules were different from my own war so I was surprised that I even knew them at all. In my war the only rule you really had to follow was not attacking any Masters while on campus. This war seemed to be drastically different from mine. Any non-magus was never allowed to know about the war and had to be silenced. And that was putting it mildly.

"Yes, I have to kill any humans that witness any battles or see me use any of my abilities." I felt a pang of guilt at Shirou's facial expression. "It's just the way things are." He didn't respond. "S-so, what do you need me to do?"

"Can you grab the carrots from the refrigerator and cut them up?"

I nodded. I slipped by Shirou and opened the refrigerator to search for the carrots. Once I spotted them, I grabbed them and straightened up. Walking over to the empty counter, I grabbed a knife to begin chopping the orange vegetable. We worked in uncomfortable silence. I racked my mind for conversation ideas. Sadly, I was no conversationalist and we continued on in silence. I could feel my eye twitching from the quiet. It was almost as bad as the final week in the Moon Cell.

I placed the knife done and took a deep breath. "Shirou, do you have any problems with the way the war is operated? If we're going to be working together we need to clear the air between us."

Shirou stopped cooking and faced me. His expression was very serious. "How can you justify killing innocent people just to keep a secret? It's inhumane."

"Servants may look like humans Shirou, but we are far from it. We can do things most humans can't even imagine."

"What allows a person to become a Servant?" He gave me a curious look. "Do you have to do something specific to be made a Servant or…?"

I thought about his question. Most Servants did something extraordinary during their time as humans to get them recognized as important figures in history. This seemed to impress the Holy Grail and I suppose it decided who became a Servant and who didn't. How I managed to impress it was beyond me. I had been a low level magus that rose above the odds and managed to defeat a powerful person on my quest to win the Holy Grail. Did that mean something to the Grail? Did the Grail think I had potential to be a good Servant?

"Caster? Hello, Caster?"

I shook my head and focused on Shirou. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"

"Never mind. Let's just finish cooking before-"

"Shirou~!"

Taiga came waltzing into the kitchen and pouted at us. She complained about how long we were taking and demanded that we work faster to fill her belly. Shirou and I chuckled at her behavior and hurried to finish. I pulled out some plates and set the table while Shirou brought the food out. Taiga cheered and dug in as soon as the food was placed on the table. She complimented Shirou's cooking and praised me for helping. I laughed at the way Shirou and Taiga interacted. They acted just like family. It was a nice change from my life in the virtual world.

A yawn escaped my lips. Taiga smiled at me. "You must be tired from your long day." She turned to Shirou and gestured to me. "Show your cousin to a room."

"Oh no, it's fine! I can find an empty room by myself."

"Nonsense! You're our guest and we need to make you feel welcome."

I knew better than to argue against Taiga. Shirou sighed and lead me down a hallway. We stopped in front of a door and he slid it open. The room was blank and derived of any decoration. Dust covered every inch of the room and floor. Shirou rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

"Ah, we don't usually have a lot of guests so we don't clean the empty rooms that often. I-I can clean it up tomorrow if you'd like."

I waved him off. "It's fine, I can take care of it. Is there a futon in the closet?"

"Yes, here let me help you get it set up."

He strode over to the closet and opened it. I swear dust bunnies came hopping out of there. Shirou ignored it and pulled out the futon and held it out to me. I took it from him and set about laying it out on the floor. He passed me a pillow and cover and soon my bed was ready. I nodded in approval.

"So," Shirou began, "do you have any clothes to change into?"

"U-um…" I scratched the back of my head nervously. "N-no? I figured I'd just sleep in my clothes."

"That's ridiculous! You can borrow some of my old clothes for the time being." I opened my mouth to protest but Shirou was already out of the room. I had no choice but to wait for him to return. It didn't take long. He reappeared in the room and held a baggy gray shirt in one hand and a pair of black sweat pants in the other. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the shirt had a hole near the bottom hem and the bottoms of the pant legs were fraying. Shirou looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry about the condition the clothes are in but they looked like the only ones that would fit you."

I shrugged. "They'll be fine; I'll just be using them to sleep in anyway."

"What will you do for every day clothes?"

I shrugged again. "I'll worry about that tomorrow but right now I'm tired and I'd like to get some sleep."

"Oh! O-of course! I'll just…uh…go."

I chuckled at Shirou's behavior. He was such a gentleman. I changed into the borrowed clothes and placed my other clothes to the side. Crawling into the bed, I closed my eyes just realizing how tired I was. My mind wandered from reality as I felt myself slowly falling asleep.

~xXxXx~

It was dark and cold. My eyes snapped open and I gazed out around me. I couldn't see anything in sight. It felt like I was back in the realm I had been in before being summoned. My body shook from the cold. There _had _to be a way out of this place. I spun around and searched for anything that could aid me. My search yielded no results. Panic filled my veins and it was becoming hard to focus.

"There's no escaping." A voice called out to me. "You're staying here forever."

""No, you're wrong!" I shouted back.

"You belong here with me. Don't you want to stay here with me?" The voice took on a comforting tone. It felt like a hand was caressing my face. "You're safe here. Don't worry, I'll protect you."

I tried to push away whatever was touching my face but my hands hit nothing but air. The voice chuckled at my reaction. The sensation of being touched soon stopped and I was left alone again. The darkness was overwhelming me and I could feel myself panicking again. I shut my eyes and tried to think of something that made me feel safe. Every thought was consumed by the darkness that surrounded me. My resolve to beat this thing was slowly slipping away.

"Don't worry," the voice spoke again, "I'll take good care of you."

~xXxXx~

I gasped and shot up in bed. My hand flew to my forehead as I tried to even out my breathing. Mind whirling with what I dreamt about, I pushed the blankets off of me and stood up. My hand was still held up to my forehead as I slid my door open and walked to the kitchen. I needed a drink of water. Flipping the light on, I searched the cupboards until I found an empty glass. I held the glass under the faucet until it was about half full. I switched it off and drank deeply from the cup. That made me feel a little better. I set the glass down on the mat that sat on the counter to dry and headed back to my room. I glanced up on my way and paused. Shirou sat on the porch staring up into the sky.

"Shirou?" He turned his head and looked at me. "What are you doing?"

"Star gazing, would you like to join me?"

I hesitated for a moment but then sat down next to him. I pulled my knees to my chest and stared up at the stars. There were next to no clouds in the sky making it a perfect night to gaze at them. A breeze blew through the house and made me shiver. Shirou looked at me worriedly.

"Are you cold? You didn't have to join me."

"I wanted to. This could be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other. The relationship between a Master and Servant is very important and can affect the way I perform in battle."

Shirou nodded at my logic. He put his hands behind him and leaned against them. "So, tell me about yourself."

"There's not much to tell. Why don't you explain why Taiga is living here?"

"Ah, yes that's a good place to start." Shirou took a deep breath then launched into his story. "I was living with my family up until ten years ago until they…died in a fire. My life was rescued by a man named Emiya Kiritsugu. He took me in and taught me how to use magecraft. He died about five years ago and Taiga decided that she would take care of me. Her and her father are my next door neighbors. Taiga looks after me while her father manages my finances. Although," Shirou chuckled, "it seems like I take care of Taiga more than she takes care of me. I swear, she spends more time here than at her own home."

I smiled softly at his statement. "You really think of her as family, don't you?"

"I guess I do." Shirou glanced at me. "I think of you as my family too Caster."

"W-what? How can you say that? We just met!"

He shrugged. "You seem like a good person and like you care about what happens to people. I can tell by the way you talked about killing innocents to protect the secret of the Grail War."

I blushed and looked away to hide it. He could tell that much about me from spending just a few hours together? Am I _that_ easy to read? I'd have to control my emotions better if I wanted to be able to survive this war. A question popped into my head at that thought.

"Shirou? What will you wish for if you win the war?"

"I don't know honestly." He tilted his head to the side in thought. "I guess I'd wish for a way to save everyone."

"Why would you wish for something like that?"

Shirou leaned forward and clasped his hands together. "I want to be able to protect the innocent. I want to give out justice to those who deserve it."

That reminded me of something Archer once told me. During his life, he had been an 'Ally of Justice' and lived his life doing what he believed was right. Due to his beliefs, he caused great fear in those who he was trying to protect and made them turn against him. He didn't argue against his fate and let them kill him because he realized it was the right thing to do. There were odd similarities between Archer and Shirou.

"So, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"If you could have any wish granted, what would you wish for?"

I sat there in silent contemplation. "I honestly don't know either. There isn't really anything I could want."

"That's surprising; I figured even Servants had wishes they would want granted."

"Maybe some do but I don't."

Silence fell between us. Shirou stretched his arms above his head then stood. "I'd better head to bed, I have school tomorrow." He held his hand out to me.

"I think I'll stay out a little longer."

Shirou shrugged and turned towards his room. I listened to his footsteps echo down the hallway. I stared at the stars for a while longer. Sighing, I stood up and followed Shirou down the hallway. I slipped into my room silently and crawled back into my bed. I closed my eyes sincerely hoping that my nightmare from earlier didn't repeat itself. Soon I had drifted off to sleep and wasn't bothered by any bad dreams.

~xXxXx~

A bright light glared into my face causing a groan to emit from me. I pulled my pillow over my face in an attempt to block out the light and to get some more sleep. I had almost succeeded when a soft knock came from the door. Groaning, I rolled over and glanced around the room. I shot up in alarm as I realized I had no idea where I was. Various questions whirled in my mind, the most important being _where the hell was I? _Another knock resonated through the room drawing my attention to the door. I cautiously pushed the covers back, stood up, and tip toed to the door. Grasping the door handle, I took a deep breath and flung it open. On the other side stood a boy with red, spikey hair who stared back at me with a peaceful smile across his face.

"Good morning Caster; are you hungry? I'm about to start on breakfast."

I looked at the boy for a moment before my memories from the night before came flooding back. Groaning once again, I trudged to where my clothes were laying and turned back towards Shirou. "I'll be there in a minute. Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall on the left. There should be towels in the closet next to the bathroom."

I nodded my thanks and moved passed Shirou towards the bathroom. Following Shirou's directions, I soon arrived and snagged a towel from the closet before entering. I turned the water on as hot as it could go and waited for the tub to fill up. Placing my clothes on the counter, I grabbed the brush that was also sitting there and pulled it through my hair. I flinched a few times as the brush hit a particularly nasty knot. I finished up and turned the water off then stepped into the tub. It took a moment for my body to adjust to the water temperature but soon I could feel my tense nerves relaxing. I sighed in bliss. I soaked myself for a little longer before stepping out of the tub to dry off. A collage of smells wafted through the air making my stomach growl. I quickly changed, snatched the comb from the counter, and made a beeline for the kitchen. Shirou was just placing the last of the breakfast food on the table when I ran into the room my mouth watering.

"Ah, there you are! I was just about to go get you."

I stared at him in wonder. "Did you cook all of this?"

"Yes I did." Shirou rubbed the back of his head. "I've always been good at household work and stuff like that." My mouth was watering profusely. Shirou noticed my hungry look and chuckled. His gestured to the table. "Go ahead and dig in. I'm going to go and try to get Taiga up again."

He hadn't even left the room before I had inhaled my first plate full of food. I greedily piled more food on my plate when I heard a crash come from what I assumed was Taiga's room. I debated whether or not to investigate but decided Shirou had more experience dealing with Taiga in the morning that he didn't need reinforcements. I had just shoved a load of food into my mouth when Taiga slumped headfirst onto the table. Shirou came in after her shaking his head. Blinking in shock, I hesitantly poked Taiga in the shoulders. Her head shot up and I swear I thought she was going to bite me if I hadn't jerked my hand back swiftly.

"G-good morning Taiga."

She yawned loudly and placed her head back on the table. "Good morning Caster. Whatcha eatin'?"

"Um…whatever Shirou made."

"Shirou is SUCH a great cook! His meals are always so delicious!" She hastily grabbed a plate and piled it high with food. Taiga broke her chopsticks apart and dug in. With a mouthful of food, she started speaking again. "So Caster, what are your plans for today?"

I shrugged. "I don't know; I hadn't given it much thought."

"Why not look around the town and get used to the area? If you're going to be staying here for a while, that seems like the best idea."

Honestly, I had planned to follow Shirou to school and keep an eye on him. I didn't like the idea of leaving him unprotected during the day. Of course, I wasn't entirely sure if I could follow him unnoticed. The Servants in my war had been able to alternate between spirit and solid form so there was a possibility that I could too. That would be a good thing to test soon.

We continued to eat our meal and exchanged idle conversation. In between helpings, I pulled the comb through my hair to rid it of any tangles. Taiga talked very animatedly about something or other and was waving her arms around haphazardly. Shirou ducked his head to avoid her arms. He finished before Taiga and I and stood up to take his dirty plate to the sink. I picked mine up and followed him. I stood beside him and silently rinsed off the dishes he handed me.

"Shirou," I began, "I was planning on following you to school today in order to protect you from any enemy Servants."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. "If you feel uncomfortable with the idea, just say so."

"W-well, I appreciate your concern but I think I'll be fine at school. You don't have to shadow me all the time. I can take care of myself."

"I don't like the thought of you being attacked without me being there to aid you." I knew he could summon me any time he wanted with the help of a Command Seal but he only had a limited amount of them at his disposal. Also, I seriously doubted he would use the seals immediately if he was in danger. He seemed the type to wait till the last second to call for help. An idea popped into my head. "Do you have anything that you always keep with you, like a key chain?"

"I have my keys but no key chains." He stood for a moment in deep thought. "Hang on a second." Shirou left the room leaving me to finish the dishes. I continued to wash them until I heard Shirou return. He held out his hand to reveal a small ring in his palm. It was intricately carved and seemed oddly familiar. "I carry this from time to time for good luck."

"May I?" At his nod, I gently took the ring from him and focused on it. I detected small traces of prana coming from it. The ring had obviously been used for magical purposes at one time. That would make it easier for me to cast a spell on it. I closed my eyes in concentration. Prana surged through the air and around me. Shirou drew in a sharp breath in surprise but I ignored him. My mind was clouded with numerous spells that I had no memory of knowing before. I settled on a protection and tracking spell and set about infusing them into the ring. A moment later I had finished. I held the ring back out to Shirou. "Here, this should keep you safe until I can get to you."

Shirou hesitantly took it back and rolled it around in his palm. "What did you do to it? It felt like the air was heavy with magic."

He was better at sensing prana than I thought. I quickly explained what I had done. He looked awed. I waved off any questions he had and pointed out the time. He gasped and ran from the kitchen to the front door. I noticed Taiga trailing after him not nearly as panicked as him. They both slipped out of the house and waved at me.

"Have a good day Caster! Try not to get into any trouble!"

"I make no promises." I heard them both laugh and smiled. I watched them until they were out of sight. Closing the door behind me, I stretched my arms above my head and sighed after I heard a _pop! _sound. I sighed in relief as my arms fell back to my sides. "Now, what should I do?"

~xXxXx~

I beamed at the now clean room. After Shirou and Taiga had left, I decided to tidy up the room that I had stayed in the night before. It looked drastically better than it did when I first stepped in. Sweat dripped from my forehead and I reached up to wipe it away. A flash of red caught my eyes as my left hand neared my face. Since I had removed my cloak, belt and gloves to clean, my hands were uncovered and revealed that I still had Command Seals. Two of the three were grayed out and the other was a dull red color compared to the vibrant shade of Shirou's. I traced them and smiled softly at the memories they conjured up. Archer had been furious when I had used two of my Command Seals to save another Master from certain death. Of course, Rin hadn't been thrilled with me either but given time they had both forgiven me and I had found two true friends in a world full of enemies who wanted me dead.

I shook my head. Now was not the time to be reminiscing. Since I had finished cleaning, maybe I should consider Taiga's suggestion and scout out the town for possible battle grounds. It was better than spending my day cooped up here. The only question was whether or not to walk around or float around in spirit form. I was leaning more towards the first option but I couldn't go out in my clothes.

"Maybe Taiga has some extra clothes I could borrow."

I searched the rooms until I finally found Taiga's room. Even though Shirou told me Taiga was his next door neighbor, she had made herself right at home in one of the spare rooms. The room was overly populated by stuffed animals and other toys that could be won at an arcade. I made a mental note to ask Shirou if Taiga won all of these and walked to her closet to look over her clothes. I sweat dropped at the sheer number of identical outfits she owned. I pushed back several sets of her usual outfit and finally discovered some different clothes. An orange short sleeved hoodie and white skirt caught my eye and I pulled them out. They looked about my size. Upon further searching, I found a pair of white sandals to wear with the outfit.

"This will work." I went back to my room and changed into the clothes. I nodded in approval as I looked down at myself. "Not too bad. Well, that should convince everyone that I'm just a human." I left my room with the sandals in my hand. I slipped them on at the door and stepped outside. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I looked around me and headed in the direction I guessed that lead towards town.

~xXxXx~

"Is _that _what girls wear now?"

I gaped at the clothes on display in the store across the street. There was hardly any material of the shirt covering up the top of the mannequin and the bottoms were clothed in extremely short shorts. I realized that the weather was on the warm side but did girls need to wear next to nothing to stay cool? It just seemed immodest. I shook my head in disgust, True I knew next to nothing about fashion but no self-respecting female would be caught dead in that outfit.

"I think you would look good in that outfit." I spun around with my hand held back ready to slap whoever just whispered in my ear. My hand fell to my side and I stared in shock at Lancer. He smirked at my expression. "Hello again. I don't think I caught your name last night."

I glared at the blue haired man. "That's none of your business."

"You remind me of my Master, it's almost scary." Lancer chuckled at his joke.

He looked me up and down. I crossed my arms over my chest trying not to lose my patience. I also gave his appearance a once over. Instead of the blue jumpsuit he had worn the night before, he had on a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. His hair was still styled in a ponytail. Lancer had weird fashion choices. He spoke again dragging me from my thoughts.

"How did such a cute girl like you get dragged into a nasty situation like this war?"

"Fate must hate me." I stepped away from the male Servant in an attempt to create more distance between us. "Well, if you'll excuse me."

Lancer didn't protest to my leaving and went back to doing whatever he was doing before. I hadn't got to spend much time around the Lancer that Rin had summoned so I honestly didn't know what to expect from him. He seemed awful flirtatious and somewhat perverted towards all females. I wouldn't blame Rin if she had used a Command Seal to force Lancer not to flirt with her. That thought made me smile.

"I hope I don't run into any other Servants or familiar faces."

Fate just _loves_ to screw with me.

I caught a glimpse of red out of the corner of my eye. My heart skipped a beat as I turned to look in the direction of the man I could never forget. Archer stood not fifty feet from me talking animatedly with a young man who couldn't be much older than Shirou. He had dark, well-kept hair that accented his mystifying purple eyes. His expression was awfully serious for one so young. The young man wore a school uniform but judging by the fact that he wasn't in school, I wagered he was in college and had skipped today for some reason. My eyes didn't linger for very long on the stranger and soon were completely focused on Archer. He was whispering furiously to his Master about something that obviously didn't please him. The temptation to hear his voice again was too much and I found myself drawing closer to the pair. I stopped within a few feet of them and listened to their conversation.

"-if I attacked him now I would have to kill everyone in sight."

The man shrugged. "I was just stating that attacking him now would be beneficial to us. I never meant to follow through with my observation. Besides, casualties will occur whether we want them to or not. That's the consequences of war, Archer."

"Your complete lack of concern for other humans is astonishing Master."

Archer suddenly looked up and glanced around him. I silently gasped and quickly turned my back and walked away as fast as I could. He must have picked up on my prana signature; why else would he have looked up nervously? Was that why Lancer was able to recognize me without being in my 'Servant' clothing? There had to be some way to avoid being detected by other Servants. I would need to look into it when I got the chance.

Once I was sure I was far enough away from Archer, I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. A few people glanced at me curiously as they passed but didn't say anything to me. My mind now turned to the issue of Archer. It hadn't hit me until now but at some point I might have to fight Archer. My stomach got tied up in knots just thinking about it. Could I go all out against the man who had been my rock and anchor during my own war? Could I kill the man I loved? If I didn't wish for my own death then I had no choice in the matter. I began walking towards Shirou's house, my mind still mulling over the prospect of me fighting against Archer.

This war just got a lot more complicated.

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: And thus this chapter comes to an end. I apologize for how long this one turned out to be but trust me it's better than the first attempt. Not a lot of action in this chapter but I hope to more than make up for it in the next. Okay, maybe not a ton of action in the next but I digress. Reviews are welcome and appreciated. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter Three First Strike

**DD 62: I'd like to thank everyone who has favorite or followed this story. It means a lot to that that several people are enjoying it so far. Also a BIG shout out to AccessBlade for the wonderful review. It really made my day! Now, on with the story! Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or anything else from that franchise. I simply own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

I stuck my head out of the kitchen when I heard the door open. "Welcome home Shirou. I made some tea, would you like some?"

"Yes, thank you Caster."

I nodded and went back into the kitchen to grab another cup. Placing it on the tray, I picked it up and walked to the table then set it down. I passed one cup to Shirou and set another in front of myself. He held out his cup as I poured some tea into it. He pulled it away and took a sip. I filled my own cup sipping it also. Making a face, I reached over and put a spoonful of sugar into my cup. I took another sip and nodded in satisfaction.

"So," Shirou began as he placed his cup down, "what did you do today?"

I took another sip from my tea. "I cleaned up my room and scouted out the town for possible places to battle other Servants."

"Did you run into any other Servants?" I hesitated for a moment which was all the answer he needed. "You weren't attacked were you?"

"No, nothing like that. I just ran into that blue haired Servant from last night and the Archer for this war."

"Did they recognize you?"

I nodded. "Of course, Servants give off a different prana signature than normal humans and magi. It's next to impossible to hide my prana signature from the other Servants."

_At least I'm pretty sure I can't hide my signature_, I thought silently.

"I don't feel comfortable with you walking around by yourself. What if you get attacked?"

"I can take care of myself. It's my job to protect you, not the other way around."

Shirou didn't respond. He filled his cup back up and took another sip. I mentally groaned at my Master. I could already tell that Shirou was the kind of person who would needlessly risk their life for someone else. Of course, I had no room to talk. I had risked my Servant's life and my own to save Rin. Archer did say that if you didn't have a catalyst when summoning a Servant, you usually wound up with one that matched your personality. I still hadn't figured out why I had summoned such a stubborn Servant. I wasn't _that _strong willed, was I?

"Where's Taiga?" I asked drawing my mind away from those distracting thoughts.

"She's in charge of the Archery Club at school so she won't be back until later." Shirou chuckled to himself. "Although, she does have a tendency to stay out later at the arcade."

"I noticed all of the stuffed animals in her room."

"That explains where you got that outfit. I didn't know Taiga owned any other clothes other than the ones she always wears."

We both laughed. It was a good thing we could find something to laugh about. Once this war really gets under way, we won't have any time to relax and laugh like this. A dark thought but it held some truth. This was a war after all; not everything was going to be fun and games in life.

"You mentioned that you ran into the Archer for this war, correct?" I nodded. "What did he look like and did you manage to get a glimpse of his or her Master?"

"He's on the tall side with tan skin and white hair. His eyes are steely gray and his face looked rather serious. I _did_ get a glance of his Master. I'd wager he was a few years older than you. He had dark hair and purple eyes. I didn't manage to get a name."

Shirou pondered this information for a while. He started speaking slowly as if picking out his words carefully. "What do you think we should do about the other Masters? It would be nice if we never had to fight anyone."

"That's a rather selfish thought Shirou. We can't go through this entire war without fighting anyone. We need to be able to know what to expect from the other Servants and Masters. I suggest scouting out the town and figuring out who the other Masters are and which Servant they command."

"I don't know Caster. I'd rather not have to fight anyone."

I sighed in frustration. "That's not how this war works Shirou. It's either we find other Masters or we get _found _by them. It would be better for me if we could get the jump on them rather than the other way around. Since I'm a Caster, I'm not good with physical confrontation. I excel in sneak attacks where I can channel my spells and get in a few physical attacks when I can."

"Fine," Shirou sighed, "We can look around for them after my shift tomorrow." At my confused look, Shirou explained himself. "You see, even though Taiga is technically my guardian, I still work to have my own money. It helps me not feel like a free loader."

"I see. So, what time will you be off tomorrow evening?"

"Around six if we aren't busy."

I nodded. It would be a great idea for me to follow Shirou around in spirit form all day tomorrow so I could keep an eye on him and keep him from getting into trouble. I decided not to let my Master know of my plans and kept them to myself. I'd guess that he would be very upset with my decision so it would be best to not tell him. I can deal with the consequences later.

With our course of action set, we spent the rest of the night in relative silence. What little conversation we made held no talk of our plan for the following day. I suppose Shirou was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of me fighting against other Servants, or planning ways around that. Either way, we would end up facing someone in battle sooner or later. The house was still silent by the time Taiga made it home. She filled the air with random talk of what had happened to her during the day. It was a nice distraction. After dinner, I headed straight for my room to get some sleep and rest up for any impending battles that might occur tomorrow.

~xXxXx~

I was back in that dark realm again. The theory that if you could gain consciousness in your dreams and that you can bend them to your will popped into my head. My eyes closed and I tried to envision my room from the Moon Cell. I pictured all the desks piled up at the front with some covered in what I always assumed were red drapes. The little decorations that my Taiga had given me gave the room some character. The plant looked under watered yet still somehow looked fresh and vibrant. The tea set and incense burner sat not too far from where Archer usually sat himself down at. A picture of the two of us was positioned next to him along with the stuffed animal I received in the last week of the war. The lamps yielded little light as one side of the room was completely covered in windows that looked out to the virtual sky. I even thought I saw Archer sitting in there smirking at me and asking me what I thought I was doing.

The image was shattered as suddenly as it appeared. Darkness consumed my thoughts and destroyed the peaceful memory. I felt myself cringe at its touch. It made my body feel ice cold and made me wish that Archer was there with me. It was a foolish wish but Archer always seemed to calm me down.

"You don't need that Faker; all you need is me."

There was that smug and oddly comforting voice again. "Leave me alone."

"Now now, you don't really want me to do that do you? Do you want to be left alone in this darkness?"

I wanted to snap at the voice that yes, I did want to be left here by myself. The words died on my tongue as I realized that they weren't true. The voice may be annoying and I couldn't picture who it could be coming from but it did make me feel safe. As strange as that sounded, I knew it was the truth. The sensation of arms being wrapped around me made me want to glance behind me to see who the voice belonged to. My body wouldn't move and follow through with my wishes, however, and soon I could feel myself drifting away into another sleep in this world. The voice crooned to me and led me off into dreamless sleep.

~xXxXx~

My eyes slowly opened as the sunlight bled through the window and spilled out onto the floor. Yawning, I sat up and stretched my arms above me. My dream last night hadn't been as bad as my last one and I felt completely rested. I stood up, left my room, and headed for the kitchen. No one was there to greet me making me slightly nervous. A note addressed to me lay on the counter. I picked it up and quickly read over it.

_Caster,_

_I've left for work and will meet you at home after I get off. There is food in the refrigerator that you can reheat for lunch. Don't get into any trouble while I'm out!_

_Shirou_

I cursed under my breath at the foolish boy. He must've figured out I was planning to follow him around all day. I ran to my room and hastily changed into my Servant clothes. I was about to head out when it hit me that I had no idea where Shirou was employed at. Maybe there were clues in his room! I spun on my heel and searched every room until I found his.

It was surprisingly neat for a teenage boy's room. The walls were covered in a few posters and a clock hung up on there as well. Shirou's school bag was lying on the floor next to the door. As that seemed like a good place to start, I grabbed it and looked through its contents. Normal school supplies like notebooks and folders were all that I found. I cursed again and wracked my mind for ideas. What about that ring I enchanted yesterday? I had placed a tracking spell on it so that I could locate him in the first place!

"Focus Caster!"

I closed my eyes and cast out my senses. Traces of the magic that I worked yesterday were emitting from the kitchen. My mind followed the trail it left behind. I ignored the path that lead in the direction of the school and instead followed the one leading to town. It led me through the crowd and stopped in front of a small restaurant. I smiled at my accomplishment. I let go of the trail and my mind returned to the present. Now that I knew where he was, the next step was to pass into my spirit form. The mere thought of turning into a spirit must've done the trick for when I looked down at myself I found that I was see-through. I needed to test it to make sure and left Shirou's room in search of Taiga. Unsurprisingly, I found her snooping around in the kitchen. She didn't even glance at me when I stood in her way; she just walked right through me!

Now that I was finally ready, I left the house and made my way towards the restaurant I had glimpsed earlier. It wasn't too far from Shirou's house which might explain why he chose to work here. I kept silent as I moved through the crowd; I may be invisible but I couldn't be sure that people couldn't hear me. Better safe than sorry, right? In no time I had made it to my destination. I phased through the door and looked around the room for my Master. He was just slipping out from the back and heading towards a table no doubt to take their order. I tip toed over to stand behind him. As he turned around, he jumped at the sight of me.

"Is there something wrong?" The customer asked concerned for Shirou's behavior.

"N-no! Everything's fine! I must've jumped at my own shadow." The couple seated at the table chuckled at Shirou's explanation. He gave me a look and motioned with his head that I should follow him. He stopped at a few tables to check on his other customers before going to the back. Shirou glanced around to ensure that no one would overhear our conversation. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to keep watch over you. It's not a good idea to go around without your Servant Shirou."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine fine! Stay here if you want to; just don't surprise me like that again. And don't let anyone see you."

"No one saw me following you back here, did they?" I smirked at his sharp look. "I understand. I'll stay hidden."

"Thank you."

"Thank me for what?" A voice inquired from behind him.

"Ah, Honda! It's nothing, forget I said anything. I didn't know you were working today."

The man shrugged his shoulders. "They called me in, said they were shorthanded."

Shirou nodded, "Yeah, Kizoku called in sick this morning. Glad to see they found someone to cover her shift."

The two males talked for a little longer before heading out onto the floor. I stared after them in shock. That man, Honda, was Archer's Master! It had to be, he looked exactly like the man I saw Archer talking to yesterday. The need to warn my Master was rising but he had asked me to remain back here out of sight. I gritted my teeth in frustration. If only my Master wasn't so stubborn! I would have to resign myself to wait until after Shirou was done working to tell him of my discovery.

~xXxXx~

A few hours later and Shirou was finally done for the day. I waited outside the restaurant for him to change out of his uniform and into his casual clothes. My foot tapped the ground impatiently. What was taking him so long? He said he would be out in ten minutes! As if my thoughts summoned him, Shirou walked out the door accompanied by Honda. I scowled at the sight of them together. My Master was playing with fire and he didn't even know it! I waited until the other male had walked away before springing on Shirou.

"Shirou, what is that man's name and how do you know him?" The last part was pretty obvious but I needed to ask anyway.

"You mean Honda? His full name is Honda Takuya and I met him a while back when I first started working here."

I took a deep breath and slowly released it. I had to tell him now. "Shirou, that man is Archer's Master."

Shirou looked taken aback. He alternated between looking after Takuya and me. "That's impossible! Honda isn't a magus!"

"I'm almost positive it's the same person from yesterday. The only way to tell for sure is to trail him to his house and see if I pick up a Servant's prana signature."

He hesitated at my suggestion. I was either going with or without him so I turned on my heel to follow after the other male. I heard Shirou curse under his breath and jog to catch up with me. We remained silent as we trailed Takuya through town into the suburban area. It seemed as if he lived in a very populated area; that could pose a problem if he _was _Archer's Master and if I initiated a fight. I took note of the empty park a few blocks back as a possible place to draw Archer to if a battle did break out. A sudden spike in prana caught my attention just as we turned the corner after Takuya. We stopped there and watched as the man entered an apartment building. I decided it would be for the best if we didn't follow him in.

"Did you feel that spike of prana when we got near this building?"

My Master didn't respond. He was utterly convinced that there was no possible way that his friend could be a magus. I thought the same of Alice but that little girl was a demon in disguise. Making assumptions was a terrible mistake in this war.

I opened my mouth to speak again when a motion from behind caught my eye. I tackled Shirou to the ground just as a giant slab of concrete flew over our heads. I scrambled to my feet and took a defensive stance feeling the familiar weight of my sword in my right hand. A large, lumbering form became visible as it charged towards us. Cursing, I spun around, grasped my Master's shirt, and began running in the opposite direction. Shirou made some protest but the adrenaline I was experiencing drowned him out. There had to be a way for me to double back to that park because there was no way in _hell _I was fighting a Servant this close to so many humans.

Another object came flying towards us. I let go of Shirou, felt my sword vanish, and brought my hands up in front of me. Magic flowed down my arms and into my hands. It took on the form of a wall and caused the object that was meant to injure me to shatter into a million pieces. I let my hands fall to my sides and continued to run; this time I let Shirou run by himself. He was doing pretty well at keeping up with my stride but I was more concerned that we were staying far enough ahead of whichever Servant was chasing us. We ran and ran until we finally reached the park we had passed earlier.

I had just stepped into the park when an arrow was embedded into the ground at my feet. I groaned. This _can't _be happening. Sure enough, there stood Archer with his twin swords held at his sides. His Master was standing off to the side in mild interest.

"Looks like you were right Master, there was another Servant following you." Archer took his normal nonchalant stance and gripped Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. "I do _not _have time to deal with you!"

I rushed forward ducking under Archer's swords and shoved my elbow hard into his stomach. He doubled over in pain. I shoved him towards Takuya and quickly placed a barrier around them. That should keep them from attacking me while I fought whoever it was chasing me.

I turned my attention back towards the entrance of the park. The giant that had been chasing me stepped under a streetlight, illuminating his form. By the way he walked he had to be a Berserker. He held a huge axe in one hand while the other was clenched in a fist. My sword reappeared and I held it in front of me ready to block if Berserker were to attack. A small figure stepped out from behind the insane Servant. She had beautiful silver hair and crimson eyes that shone with excitement. She reminded me of Alice.

"Oh look Berserker! There are two Servants here! But wait, one's in some sort of shield." The little girl shrugged her shoulders. "We can deal with them once we defeat this Servant."

Berserker roared and charged towards me. I dodged to the side and rolled away from the head of the axe that was now buried in the ground. I took advantage of this situation and slashed Berserker across the back. He roared in pain and pulled his axe from the ground slicing at me. I jumped away and started focusing prana into my hand. The insane warrior charged me again. I waited until he was closer before surging forward. I slammed the ball of magic I held into Berserker's stomach. He doubled over in pain. I smirked.

"Stop fooling around Berserker! Finish her off!"

I braced myself, ready for the impending attack. Berserker stood back up and swung his axe at me. I brought my sword up managing to block the attack. Now that Berserker's weapon was mere inches from my face, I could get a better look at it. It was a battle axe that was made of black steel and had what seemed to be feathers hanging from the end of the hilt. Berserker put more force against his axe. I could feel my grip on my sword loosening. My teeth clenched. If I didn't do something soon, I was going to be in a _lot_ of trouble.

A roar of pain erupted from Berserker. He took a step away from me. I stared at him in shock. Did I do that? His hand reached behind him and it looked like he was trying to grab something. My eyes widened as Shirou rolled away from Berserker. He held what seemed to be an exact copy of Archer's swords in his hands. He held them in front of him like he was ready to defend should Berserker attack him. Considering Berserkers were mindless warriors that would attack _anything_, Shirou probably had the right idea. Berserker stood back up and growled at my Master.

"What the _hell _are you doing?" I snapped at him.

"Don't worry Caster; I can handle it from here."

I gaped at him as Berserker swung his weapon. Shirou tried to dodge but got nicked by the edge of the axe's blade. He sucked in a breath in an attempt to hide his pain. Blood spilled out onto his shirt but Shirou didn't seem to notice or care. He was solely focused on fighting someone who was at least three times stronger than him. What he was attempting to prove was beyond me. As Berserker brought his axe back up to strike again, I dashed forward and intercepted the attack. I pushed Berserker away and glared behind me at Shirou.

"Stay back and let me take care of this. Berserker is way too strong for you."

Shirou gritted his teeth. "There's no way I can let you fight this guy all by yourself." He stepped up next to me and tightened his grip on the imitation swords.

I scowled at him. I didn't have enough time to argue with my stubborn Master. I would just have to watch him carefully during this fight. Berserker roared and came at us. We both charged forward and attacked. Shirou's attack missed but mine managed to hit. It did little to deter Berserker from mercilessly battering us down. I did my best to keep his attention but sometimes Shirou took a hit. He was panting with exhaustion and more blood was dripping from his shirt. I wasn't unscathed myself. I had a long gash on my left arm and a few cuts on my legs, nothing I wouldn't heal from.

I jumped towards the enemy and slammed my shoulder into him. It pushed him back half an inch. Great, all that accomplished was bruising my shoulder. Pain shot through my side as Berserker's axe sliced me. I had been too close and didn't have enough time to evade. I dropped to one knee and placed my free hand against the wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

"Caster!"

Shirou tried to run to me but I threw my hand out and shoved him back with a spell. If this was my time to die then so be it. I closed my eyes and bowed my head in defeat. Berserker raised his axe above him, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

A _swoosh!_ filled the air as if something had been thrown. The sound of something piercing Berserker soon followed. What I believed to be blood splattered across my face. I stared in shock as Berserker stumbled back and clutched his chest. I heard a chuckle come from behind me. Lancer stepped up beside me and crossed his arms, a smirk of satisfaction spread across his face.

"I thought I told you not to interfere Lancer!" Rin scowled at her Servant. She stood not too far from Shirou. Berserker's Master looked surprised to see her there.

"Tohsaka Rin, so you _are_ the representative for the Tohsaka family in this war."

Rin crossed her arms and gave the other female a cocky look. "Illyasviel von Einzbern, I'm surprised to see you out and about. I didn't think your family would let you out of sight."

The now named Illyasviel chuckled. "I can do as I please." She glanced at her Servant and me. "Berserker, we're done here. Let's go home." Illyasviel turned around and began to walk off. Her Servant stared at me for a moment before lowering his weapon and clutched the lance that was still buried in his chest. He pulled it out without blinking and threw it down at Lancer's feet. Once that was done, Berserker followed after his small Master. I sighed in relief.

"Caster!" Shirou ran over to my side. He looked me over and narrowed his eyes at the wound on my side. "You should have let me handle it! I don't want you to get hurt."

"Are you insane?! Berserker would've _killed_ you!"

"I would've been fine."

"No, she's right." Rin piped up. "You would have died if she wasn't here to protect you."

"What are you doing here Tohsaka?"

She waved off Shirou's question. "Never mind that now, I thought I sensed three Servants here."

As soon as the words left her mouth, another arrow flew towards her. Lancer jumped in front of her and took the hit. He grunted in pain. We looked up and saw Archer standing there in front of us. I groaned. The barrier I put around them must've disappeared when Berserker landed that last attack on me. I gritted my teeth and clumsily made my way to my feet. Lancer and I took defensive positions in front of our Masters and waited for him to attack again. My hand was still held to my side and Lancer also had his hand held to his chest. We were both breathing hard.

"Archer, stand down." Takuya ordered.

Archer glanced at him. "Are you sure Master? This is a golden opportunity and we won't be this lucky again."

"I won't fight against opponents who are already injured."

"How surprisingly chivalrous of you." Archer let his bow disappear and gave us a look. "You're all very lucky that my Master is _so_ generous."

Do I detect a note of sarcasm in his voice? Considering who was speaking, I shouldn't be surprised. We watched the pair walk away from us. They didn't look back. I waited until they were out of sight before addressing the other Master-Servant pair.

"So, what now? Are you going to attack us? I won't hold back even though you're injured."

Lancer laughed. "You seem to be more wounded than I. However, I have no intention of attacking you now."

"What the hell Lancer?! I make the decisions for us, not you!"

"Ah, c'mon Master!" Lancer gave the girl a lopsided smile. "You know you weren't going to attack them now. You're too soft."

Rin looked absolutely flabbergasted. "W-what?! That's crazy!" She didn't make eye contact with any of us. "I-I was just following the prana signatures I sensed in hopes of gaining information about the other Servants."

"Either way," Shirou began, "I'm glad you came along when you did. If you hadn't, I don't think Caster would be alive."

I glared at him. "I would have been okay if _you_ hadn't tried to protect me! I'm your Servant; it's my job to protect you!"

"I already told you, I don't feel comfortable with a girl fighting for my sake."

"Ugh! You two are insufferable."

I turned my glare to Rin. "And why are _you _still here? If you think you can gain something by hanging around us you can just forget it!"

"I don't expect to gain anything from you." She paused as a thought seemed to have occurred to her. "Well, maybe…"

"Maybe what Tohsaka?"

She hesitated. "Maybe we could be allies."

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: A cliff hanger?! How bizarre! No, not really. That's totally normal for some stories. Sorry if this upsets any of you. I'm also sorry about my fighting scenes! It's kind of new to me so hopefully I'll improve as the story goes on. Reviews are welcome and appreciated. Until we meet again!**


	4. Chapter Four Allies and Answers

**DD 62: I'm posting this chapter a day early because I have classes all day tomorrow. I won't have any time to post this tomorrow so here we are! Are you ready to read?! Ha ha, but no seriously, are you ready for this next chapter? Let's see what other mischief Caster and her Master get into, shall we? Again, thanks for all the follows and favorites!**

**Disclaimer: I do no own Fate/EXTRA or anything else from the franchise. I do own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

I gritted my teeth in frustration as I attempted to bandage up my fidgeting Master. "Damn it Shirou, _hold still!_" Shirou continued to squirm and blush as I tended to his injures. He sat in front of me shirtless as most of his injures were located on his torso. I too had a slight blush on my face due to the close proximity. "If you hadn't insisted on playing hero, you wouldn't be injured in the first place!"

"I couldn't stand by and let you do all the fighting." He winced when I pulled the bandages tightly around him. "Besides, shouldn't you take care of your own wounds?"

"Oh, so you _want_ to see me topless?"

"T-that's not what I meant!"

I smirked at his discomfort. He was so damn easy to tease. I gestured to my side. "Already taken care of." My wound had been healed already. I had cast a healing spell as soon as we had departed from the battleground.

We were lucky Taiga wasn't awake when we arrived home. I'm almost positive she would have had a heart attack at the sight of us. Shirou had insisted on helping me walk home and made me lean against him for support. His poor shirt was covered in both of our blood. He'd have to get rid of that shirt most likely.

I leaned away from the now patched up boy and admired my handiwork. "There, I'm all done."

Shirou sighed with relief and quickly stood up to search for a shirt. "Thanks Caster; you're really good at that."

"I guess I've had a lot of practice." I wasn't entirely sure if that statement was true but shrugged off my doubt. I took that opportunity to change the subject. "So, what do we need to do before Lancer and Rin arrive?"

"Clean out two rooms for them I suppose." Shirou glanced at me. "Are you sure you're okay with us teaming up and them staying here?"

"Rin's argument makes sense; strength in numbers is always a good strategy."

I hadn't been thrilled with the idea of allying ourselves with the pair at first, but Rin always got what she wanted.

~xXxXx~

I gaped at Rin incredulously. "Us, teaming up with _you_? Do you think we're _that _stupid? What's to stop you from attacking us while we're supposedly 'allies'?"

"I'm always true to my word. I won't harm you until we are the last two Masters standing."

"I'm not buying it."

Rin groaned in frustration. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. "And I thought _I _was the one with the stubborn Servant. Look, there's more strength in numbers, right? And it's obvious that neither of us can hope to beat Berserker on our own. This is a good thing for the both of us."

I glared at the girl. A small part of me wanted to trust her whole heartedly, but that was the part of me that saw this girl as the same one I knew from the Moon Cell. The more logical side of me was screaming at me to grab Shirou and get the hell out of there. I was leaning towards my logical side at this point.

"Rin has a point Caster; we can't fight Berserker on our own."

I turned my glare to Shirou. "Oh, so now you're on her side?"

"I'm not on anyone's side!"

Lancer laughed and threw his arm casually around Shirou's shoulders. He gave the younger male a sympathetic look. "You might as well stop while you're ahead. In my experience, arguing with a woman never ends well." Rin and I glared furiously at the blue haired Servant. He shrank away from us with Shirou in tow. "See what I mean? Now they're angry at the both of us!"

"Regardless," Rin spoke, "it's ultimately up to Shirou to decide."

I gave my poor Master an intense look. He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. He did his best to avoid eye contact with everyone in our small group. We all waited silently for his decision. He finally caved under the pressure and groaned. He stepped out of Lancer's casual friendly embrace and turned to Rin and me.

"Alright Tohsaka, we'll be your ally."

My jaw dropped to the ground. Rin nodded with a slight gloating look in her eyes. "We'll need a place where we can talk strategy without fear of being overheard. It would probably be a good idea if Lancer and I moved in with you two."

"Oh _hell no!_ Shirou, you can't seriously be opening up your house to these two!"

"Well," Shirou started, "it doesn't sound like a _bad_ idea."

I literally wanted to die. If Lancer was willing to stab me through the chest with his lance and end my life right then and there, I was all for it. Sullenly, I stood off to the side as the two Masters went over plans to move in Rin and Lancer. Lancer was smiling like an idiot at the idea of living in a house with two female companions. I gave him a week tops before I ripped his head off. Plans made, we separated and went our own ways: Shirou and I to his house and Rin and Lancer to hers to collect whatever she would need. I refused to talk to my Master the entire way home.

~xXxXx~

"There!" I sighed. "All done!"

I beamed at the clean room before me. We had decided to give Rin a room close to me and Lancer one close to Shirou. It was Shirou's idea but I'm sure Lancer wouldn't mind a sausage fest. I grinned evilly at the thought. Rin would probably be thankful that we didn't put her in a room near her perverted Servant. She wouldn't voice this gratitude, of course, but she would definitely be thanking us mentally.

I walked to where Shirou had been cleaning and stuck my head into the room. "You done yet?"

"Just finished actually." He stood and wiped the sweat from his face. "Is Tohsaka's room done?"

I nodded then titled my head to the side. "I didn't see Taiga in her room; where is she?"

"Probably at either the arcade or the bar."

I sweat dropped at his nonchalant response. We left the room and made our way to the kitchen. I helped Shirou put up the cleaning supplies we had been using and also helped him pull out some ingredients to make a snack. He pulled out the rice cooker then started chopping up vegetables while I cleaned the rice. We worked in blissful silence. Something from our fight earlier occurred to me and I looked at my Master.

"Shirou?" He glanced at me. "Where did you get those swords during the battle? Archer didn't drop his and you weren't armed."

"Oh, that." He wiped his hands on a towel and gave me his full attention. "I used Trace magic to make a copy of his swords. I haven't copied many weapons so I was surprised at how well it turned out." He paused for a moment. "It felt almost natural to hold those swords, like I had been using them my whole life. Is that weird?"

"I'm not sure to be honest." I wasn't lying but I was starting to get a feeling there was a connection between my current partner and my old one. I sure as hell wasn't going to mention the similarities as it would raise too many questions I wasn't ready to answer. It would become necessary at some point for him to know. As far as I was concerned, he was better off not knowing my story.

"When did Rin say that she and Lancer should arrive?"

A knock came at the door as my answer. Rin must be a fast packer. Or a light one. Shirou and I left the kitchen and went straight to the front door. Shirou opened it. We were met with the frustrated face of Rin and an amused looking Lancer. I won't even attempt to guess what had happened while at Rin's place; no doubt Lancer had made some perverted remark about her living with two males and another female. Jokes on him, Taiga was going to _flip_ when she figures out what we've done.

"Ah, Tohsaka! We were just talking about you."

"Fantastic." She shoved her bag into my arms and took off her shoes. She waltzed down the hallway and entered the kitchen. I stormed after her fuming.

"Do I look like your Servant? Make Lancer carry your bag!"

Rin gave me a bored look. "You know where I'll be staying so it seemed like a good idea to give it to you."

"Now now ladies; at least try to get along."

I glared at Lancer as he entered the room. He ignored me and slumped down into the seat next to his Master. Shirou followed soon after. I mumbled to them about taking Rin's bag to her room and quickly left. Their conversation seemed to begin as soon as I was out of the room. This situation could _not_ get any worse.

"Caster~!" Taiga tackle hugged me from behind. I stumbled forward with her weight now on my back. She smiled goofily at me then stared down at the bag I held. "Is that your luggage? Did the airport finally find it?"

I had told Taiga that my luggage had been lost while I was on the airplane here as an excuse as to why I was borrowing her clothes. She bought it without question.

"Um…"

"Here! Let me take it to your room!"

"No!" I snatched my hand away from her grasp. "I-I mean, I can take care of it. Why don't you go ask Shirou if the rice balls are done?"

"Rice balls? YAY~!"

I watched Taiga as she skipped down the hall and smirked. I wouldn't need to be in the same room to hear Taiga blow up at Shirou and Rin. Her shouts were loud enough to wake the dead. I had just placed Rin's bag into her room when the volcano erupted.

"EMIYA SHIROU! ARE YOU TRYING TO START YOUR OWN HAREM?!"

Not the words I would have gone with but it was Taiga after all. She had no filters and just went with whatever words came to mind. I did my best to contain my laughter as I saw the expressions on all of their faces. Shirou's head was hung in utter defeat as Taiga yelled his ear off. She had my poor Master by the collar of his shirt and was shaking him relentlessly. Rin looked totally taken aback by the older woman's presence and behavior while Lancer seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. I sat next to Shirou and waited for either his or Rin's explanation.

"Tohsaka, help me out here!" Shirou whispered furiously to the girl once Taiga had released his shirt from her death grip.

Rin sighed and took a deep breath drawing Taiga's attention to her. Rin's eyes took on a puppy dog look as she shot into her sob story. "I'm so sorry Fujimura-sensei; my house is under renovations and I had been planning to stay in a hotel when Emiya offered to let me stay here."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your house but I simply cannot allow another girl to live with Shirou! I'm fine with Caster staying here but with you I'm drawing the line."

"Do you not trust Emiya around girls his own age? Is he really _that_ kind of person?" Rin gave her an innocent look. Lancer and I sweat dropped at the two women.

"Of course Shirou isn't! He's very responsible and dependable!"

"I agree. I too trust Emiya."

Taiga gave the younger girl a hard look. She sighed in defeat and reluctantly allowed Rin to stay with us. I found it odd that she had no objections to Lancer staying here when I realized she couldn't see him. Sneaky little bastard went into his spirit form to go undetected. If I found him snooping around Rin's, Taiga's, or my room I was going to kill him, alliance or not.

I could feel myself growing more tired by the minute. I wasn't accustomed to fighting much and now was faced with the consequences. Standing, I bid everyone a good night and went to my room. About halfway there, Lancer made himself known and leaned against the wall behind me.

"Fancy meeting you here."

I rolled my eyes at his behavior. "I'm not in the mood for your behavior right now Lancer. And if you hadn't noticed, I sort of live here."

"That's not what I meant." Lancer pushed himself away from the wall and leaned in close. He gave me a knowing look. "I never would've expected to see you as a Servant; you seem much more capable now though."

"Y-you recognize me?!"

He shrugged. "You _were _the one who risked their life to save my Master; I don't tend to forget my debts."

"What debt? As far as I'm concerned, you repaid it by saving us from Berserker back then."

"Ah, still so naïve." He patted my head affectionately also ruffling my hair. "I still owe you for protecting her and getting her home after that war."

I grabbed his arm and tossed it away from me. I started to walk away from him. "You don't owe me anything Lancer. That war is over and done; I'd rather not linger on it while another is going on."

"Funny that your Archer was summoned here as well." I stopped in my tracks but didn't look at him. My heart was pounding as the lance wielding warrior went on. "You do realize he isn't on our side, right? Protecting him and his Master from Berserker won't mean anything to him. As far as he is concerned, you're just another obstacle to take down on his way to the prize." He didn't wait for me to respond. He spun on his heel and walked back towards where our Masters and Taiga were. "Just some thoughts to ponder."

My hands clenched into fists. Lancer's steps echoed around me along with the pounding of my heart. Damn him for remembering me! We could have gone this whole war without me knowing that. My anger was still rising and I couldn't help myself as I punched the wall. A small indent was left behind. I didn't need Lancer to remind me that Archer wasn't my ally this time around. I already knew that. And I _definitely_ didn't need him to remind me that I would end up fighting him again, probably sooner than I wanted. I fought back angry tears as I entered my room, quickly changed, and slumped onto my bed. My eyes closed and soon I had drifted off into a fitful sleep.

~xXxXx~

I was back here again. Back in this miserable place and waiting for that voice to return to keep me company. It was the same every night regardless of what I did. I was completely powerless in this realm and would just have to deal with what happened. A chuckle resounded through the air.

"Giving up so soon? How unlike you Hakuno."

My eyes widened. "How do you-!"

"Know your name?" The voice finished for me. It chuckled again. "Because I _know _you. You don't seem to remember me, however. How infuriating."

"Why not just tell me who you are if it pisses you off so much."

"As easy as that would be, I find it to be more entertaining to watch you struggle and try to remember on your own."

"How very generous of you." I replied dryly.

I was surrounded by silence again. I guess the voice had finally grown bored with me. I was surprised at its next statement.

"Our time together here is growing short I'm afraid. My ability to speak with you here is very limited and it seems I have reached my limit." The voice seemed to sense my alarm and took on a comforting tone. "Do not fear, I will see you again. This time, however, it will be a venue of my choosing."

Left with that promise, the feeling of being alone overcame me and soon my consciousness left.

~xXxXx~

My day had been surprisingly dull. I woke up in time to see Shirou, Taiga, and Rin off to school and to finish up the dishes they had left behind. It was decided that Lancer would follow our Masters to school and that I would be left to guard the house. What I was supposed to guard against, I can't say. I went about tidying up what little messes I could find and entertained myself by looking through the empty rooms. Many of them were simply barren of any decoration similar to my own room and had a thick layer of dust. Why did Shirou live in such a big house if he didn't use all of the rooms? And with his attitude towards cleanliness I'm surprised he didn't take care of them better.

I had searched every room in the house at this point. It was getting around the time for everyone to be returning home. I took notice of the shed that was snugly hidden away in the yard and paused. Didn't Shirou summon me from there? My curiosity got the better of me and I found myself walking over to the shed. Grasping the handle, I swung the door open and peered inside. A dull sense of used prana filled the air as I stepped inside. The shed was much more organized in the sunlight. There were numerous boxes and other things stacked one on top of the other. Upon closer inspection, some of the boxes had a name scribbled across them.

"Emiya Kiritsugu." I read aloud. Why did that name sound familiar?

"We're home Caster!" Shirou's voice echoed through the house and reached my ears. I stuck my head out of the shed and waved to him. He placed his bag down and came towards me. "What are you up to?"

"Exploring." I re-entered the shed and continued to look around. "Why are there so many boxes in here?"

"Most of them belong to my adoptive father. When he died, I packed up most of his things and stored them in here."

"There you two are!" Rin strode into the small building and glanced around. "What are you doing in here and why does it feel like there are traces of prana lingering in the air?"

"This _is _where Shirou summoned me so it's safe to assume there's still some prana left over."

"Really? You summoned Caster here?"

"Why are you so surprised?" Lancer appeared next to his Master. "We _did _get attacked just outside."

"It just seems like a weird place to summon a Servant is all." Rin looked at Shirou. "What catalyst did you use to summon her with anyway?"

Shirou cocked his head to the side. "Catalyst?"

Both Lancer and Rin gaped at him. Rin recovered and bombarded my Master with questions. "You mean to tell me you have no idea what a catalyst is? Then how did you manage to summon your Servant? And if you didn't use a catalyst then why is her summon a complete one?"

"I-I'm sorry but I have no idea what you guys are talking about."

Groaning, Rin turned to me for answers. "Don't look at me! This is my first time being summoned."

"This is your first time being summoned?"

Damn, probably shouldn't have said that. "W-what I mean is, I don't have any answers for you either."

"This makes absolutely no sense! If Shirou didn't use a catalyst to summon you then you should be an incomplete summon but you have the same abilities as the other Servants. It's safe to assume you were summoned accidentally but if what you said is true and this was your first time being summoned then he would've _had _to have had a specific catalyst to summon you."

"Does it really matter?" I asked in frustration. "I'm here now and that's all that matters."

Rin snapped at me. "Yes it matters! This is a very important issue!" She sighed and turned her back to us. She mumbled under her breath. For a moment, no one spoke. She turned back to us with a serious look on her face. "We will need to perform a spell to see if we can figure out how Shirou managed to summon a Servant without performing the usual ceremony."

"This is a waste of time."

My complaints were ignored. Everyone seemed to be interested in figuring out this mystery more than I was. I didn't see how figuring all of this out was going to change anything. Curiosity killed the cat after all. I'm not saying that this was going to kill us, but…well…it might knowing Rin.

We did as Rin instructed and a few hours later were ready to begin the spell. All of them looked oddly seriously as we began. Rin was chanting in some other language while holding her hand out. Prana filled the air and the ground started to glow red. I stared in wonder as a summoning circle appeared with interesting runes decorating it. Rin dropped her hand and studied the runes.

"Interesting," she mumbled, "this circle wasn't drawn like a regular summoning circle. It appeared due to Shirou's blood and the prana within. This also mean Shirou would have _had _to use a catalyst!" She turned to Shirou. "Did you have anything with you or on your person when you were attacked by Rider?"

"Is that who was attacking Shirou?" I was ignored again which left me fuming off to the side.

"I don't think I had anything…Wait! I _did _have this in my pocket." Shirou dug around in said pocket and fished out something. We all looked down at the ring I had enchanted for him the other day. "Could this be used as a catalyst Tohsaka?"

"Anything can be used as a catalyst." Rin glanced at me. "Does this ring seem familiar to you?"

I nodded. "It does look familiar but I can't remember where I've seen it before. I enchanted it for Shirou with a protection and tracking spell in case he got into trouble and it seemed like I knew it then as well."

Rin was about to respond when I felt the presence of another Servant. We all ducked as a large source of prana came flying towards us. I felt someone fall on top of me like a human shield as the shed exploded. Debris fell everywhere and I coughed due to the smoke. I blushed when I saw that it was Shirou who had shielded me. He gritted his teeth in pain but moved away from me. We looked around the yard and saw the boxes scattered around. Rin and Lancer stood not too far from us. A figure appeared on top of the house. I felt my breath hitch at the sight of him.

"Archer!"

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: And another cliff hanger I leave you with! I hope this doesn't disappoint any of you. Again, thanks for all the follows and favorites! I wouldn't mind a few reviews as well! Chapter five should be on time next month so be on the lookout. Once more, reviews are welcome and appreciated! See you next time!**


	5. Chapter Five Resolve

**DD 62: Ready for another action packed chapter? I hope to improve on my battle scenes as the story goes on but you'll have to deal with 'em for now! Now for a few shout outs. A big thanks to The Fox Knight, AnonymousIDK, Gashadokuro Amanojaku, AccessBlade, Hana-chan98, and SmileRen for the awesome reviews! This chapter should answer your questions! Now, on to the show!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or anything else for the franchise. I do own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

I was frozen, shell shocked. My body refused to function as my mind tried to grasp the situation I now found myself in. Archer let his bow disappear and crossed his arms over his chest. His face took on that look I was oh so familiar with. His eyes that were normally uncaring were blazing with anticipation. Lancer stood protectively in front of Rin, his lance held firmly in his hands. He cast me a knowing look before dashing off towards Archer. Archer held his hands out and soon held Kanshou and Bakuya in them. He brought them up to block Lancer's attack. Jumping back, Lancer dashed towards him again swinging his lance. Archer ducked and leapt from the roof. As soon as he landed, he ran in my direction. My eyes widened.

"Caster!"

Shirou lumbered to his feet and jumped in front of me taking the hit. He flew to the side, his chest bleeding badly. I didn't have time to call out his name as Archer was soon upon me. I rolled to the right then jumped up to my feet. My sword appeared just in time for me to deflect Archer's advances. The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the air as Archer continued to bombard me with attacks meant to break my guard. I saw an opening and sliced at him. He jumped back to avoid my attack.

"A Caster pretending to be a Saber? Now I've seen everything."

"Don't take her lightly Archer," his Master's voice called out from the roof. "Remember, she did manage to injure Berserker."

"Thanks for the reminder Master."

Archer readjusted his hold on his twin swords and came at me again. I could feel my will fail me as he drew closer. I couldn't bear the thought of possibly injuring the man who had once sworn to protect my life with his. A flash of blue passed before me as Lancer intercepted the attack. He and Archer pushed against the other's weapon neither giving an inch. Lancer brought his knee up and dug it into Archer's stomach. The air rushed from his lungs as he fell over clutching his torso. Lancer fell back to my side.

"Get a hold of yourself Caster!" He snapped at me. "Remember what I said? He isn't our ally in this war."

I gritted my teeth. "I _know _that_._"

"Then prove it and help me kick his ass!"

I hesitated for a moment. Lancer growled at me and went towards Archer again. Their weapons clashed against one another in a frenzied fury. It was hard to keep up with them. Archer managed to throw Lancer off his feet and charged towards me once more. I tried to block but felt his swords tear into me. I gasped in pain as I fell to one knee a hand pressed to the wound to stop it from bleeding. I focused some prana into my hand and hurriedly healed the wound. I noticed Archer spin around and charge at Shirou. My Master gritted his teeth and pushed himself to his feet. His hands clenched into fists and a copy of Kanshou and Bakuya appeared. He used them to block and push Archer away. Shirou sent a worried glance to me.

"Are you alright Caster?"

"Never mind her, pay attention to the battle at hand!" Archer shouted at him. He flew at him slashing him on the arm. Spinning on his heel, he delivered a devastating blow to his back. More of Shirou's blood splattered on the ground. "Pathetic."

"Leave him alone!"

I ran blindly towards Archer wildly swinging my sword. He ducked and dodged my frantic attacks and kicked me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain but ignored it and rolled to the side to avoid Archer's blade. I sent a ball of energy at him that managed to make contact. It did little to deter him however. He brought his foot up and it connected with my chin sending me flying. My jaw was bruised but not broken. I struggled to my feet.

"Tired already little Caster? I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Hey!" Lancer sliced at the enemy Servant. "Did you forget about me?"

"Hmpf! It seems like I'm always stuck with your ugly mug."

"I could say the same to you."

They continued to exchange blows and insults. Lancer and Archer both were incredible. They didn't let the fact that they knew each other from previous wars get in the way of their fight in this one.

Their resolve was admirable.

I took advantage of their fighting and made my way to Shirou's side. He was bleeding profusely and breathing hard. Damn, I never knew how damaging Archer's attacks were! I placed my hands over the worst of the wounds and pushed some prana into them coaxing them to close up. Slowly, Shirou's breathing evened out and his eyes opened to look at me. I smiled in relief.

"Are you alright Shirou?"

He nodded. "I am now thanks to you." He glanced behind me and his eyes widened. Suddenly I was pushed behind him and an arrow was piercing his shoulder. I stared at him in horror.

"Shirou!" I shouted as he fell to one knee. He held a hand to the arrow ready to pull it out. "What were you thinking?! You could've died!"

"I had to protect you."

I felt myself losing what little patience I had left. "We've been over this already! The Servant is supposed to fight and protect the Master!"

"Yes but you don't want to fight this man, do you?" I gave him a surprised look. "You didn't hold back against Berserker but something is holding you back from going all out against this Servant." He gritted his teeth and pulled the arrow from his shoulder. Shirou stumbled to his feet standing protectively in front of me. "Whatever your reason is, I can't allow you to continue this fight! It'll only hurt you if you do."

"How do you know that?" I whispered.

He gave me a soft smile. "Because we have a bond. We may not have known each other for very long but it's there."

A bond?

That word held so much meaning for me. I felt the world pause and found myself lost in a memory.

~xXxXx~

"Archer, you've been acting weird all day. Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about." He told me gruffly.

I didn't push the matter and stared off into space as he disappeared. It was finally the last round of this damned Holy Grail War and there was only one obstacle standing in my way of victory: Leo Harway. We had yet to cross swords in the Arena and he seemed to be awfully good at avoiding me during the day. There was no way he was afraid that I may harm him but he still kept his distance. Normally I wouldn't mind but as this _was _the last week I was more paranoid than ever. It didn't help matters that my Servant was being more aloof than usual.

Archer was a stubborn Servant, and that's putting it lightly. He was condescending, cold, and cynical a majority of the time. It seemed like he took every opportunity to insult me. As the weeks wore on, however, his attitude towards me changed. He was more caring and careful with what he said to me almost like he didn't want to upset me. It would have been cute if I didn't know him better than that. Archer still threw in the occasional insult but for the most part he went along with whatever I commanded him to do. It could be worse, he could completely ignore me and attack Leo without my permission. I'm honestly surprised he never did that earlier in the war.

I shook those distracting thoughts from my head and walked to the Arena's entrance. I was half way down the hall when Archer appeared behind me. His face had that worried look on it again as he stared at me when he thought I couldn't tell. I turned my head slightly and glanced at my stoic Servant.

"Yes?" I asked him snapping him out of his thoughts. "Archer, are you sure you're alright?"

He hesitated for a moment. "Normally I'd say not to worry about it but…what the hell. Seeing as my problem involves you I might as well fill you in."

Archer went on to explain that there was only one rule that all Servants had to abide by: above all else, they had to put the safety of the Moon Cell first. Even if it meant endangering their Masters, Servants had to do everything in their power to protect the Moon Cell should it ever be in danger. It was surprisingly humane of the Moon Cell considering all the ways it tries to protect the Masters participating. It still didn't explain why Archer was acting strangely.

"So, what's the problem? Is the Moon Cell telling you to abandon me in the Arena or something?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that my priorities have…changed." Archer sighed at my confused look. "It's nothing too serious…I hope. Just forget about it and let's get some training in."

He returned to spirit form obviously done with the conversation. His words still drifted through my head as we explored the arena. His priorities had changed? What exactly did he mean by that? The curiosity to know what he was thinking was killing me. When we had arrived at a relatively safe part of the Arena, I turned around and faced my Servant.

"What's wrong Master? Did something shiny in the room catch your eye?" Archer joked trying to lighten the mood. His forced smile faltered at my expression.

"Earlier you said that your priorities changed, what did you mean by that?"

"Still thinking about that even after I told you not to? Why am I not surprised." Archer took a deep breath. "It's rather simple really. I've broken the cardinal rule of the Holy Grail War and made the safety of my Master my top priority."

I looked at him slightly confused but also touched. "What does that mean for me?"

"The Moon Cell will no doubt punish you for your Servant's actions. I've tried to reset my priorities but I'm not a robot. Funny considering I could do this kind of thing easily when I was alive. So, I'm sorry for whatever punishment the Moon Cell dishes out to you."

I felt my face flush in embarrassment. Archer just admitted I was more important to him than protecting the Moon Cell, right? Did he really not get what that meant to me? Did he really not understand what that said about our relationship? I opened my mouth and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Thank you Archer!" He gave me a baffled look. I pushed on despite my embarrassment. "You're basically saying I'm more important to you than the Moon Cell and you're confused as to why, right? It's because we have a bond; not just as Master and Servant but as friends."

"A bond, huh?" Archer smiled a small smile at the statement. "That sounds about right."

The sweet moment was ruined by the appearance of an unknown enemy program. It had a menacing aura surrounding it and was radiating killer intent towards me. No doubt this was what the Moon Cell created to take me down. Archer walked towards the creature and stood protectively in front of me.

"Well then Master; let's show the Moon Cell the power of our bond!"

He sprang into battle and in no time had taken the enemy down. I was surprised at how easily the program was defeated. Perhaps the Moon Cell never intended to punish me but its true purpose was to test the bond between my Servant and me. We must have passed its test as no other programs appeared of the same magnitude as the last. Archer looked quite pleased with himself. I silently thanked this man who was so willingly to protect me even if it meant death for him. With this trial behind us, nothing was going to stop us from obtaining the Grail.

~xXxXx~

I smiled at the sweet memory. Standing, I placed a comforting hand on Shirou's shoulder and gave him a thankful look.

"Thank you Master."

His look of surprise evolved into one of shock as the spell I had placed on him took effect. His body ceased to move or follow his brain's commands. I grasped his shoulder firmly and threw him behind me. Archer must've sensed a change in me as he shifted towards me. Lancer stepped up to my side and flourished his lance.

"Are you finally ready to fight seriously now?" At my nod, he took a step forward. My arm stopped him from going any further. He gave me a surprised look.

"I need to do this alone."

"So it's gonna be like that, huh?" He shrugged his shoulders and buried the head of his lance into the ground then leaned against it. "Give him hell; I'll guard these two."

"Thanks Lancer."

I grasped the hilt of my sword firmly. Having found my resolve, I had no intention of holding back against Archer.

I leapt forward and swung my sword at him. He brought his swords up in time to block me but was surprised when I thrust a dagger into his lower torso. Where I had gotten the dagger was beyond me but I was thankful for it. Archer broke contact and backed away. He grasped the dagger and yanked it from his body. He threw it to the ground glaring at me.

"Playing dirty Caster?"

"All's fair in love and war."

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

I smirked at him. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

"A smart ass, huh?" Archer chuckled. He jumped back up onto the roof. "Let's see how much of a smart ass you are when I'm done with you!"

His weapons disappeared and were replaced with a bow. He took ahold of it and drew back the string, an arrow appearing notched and ready to go. I sank into a defensive stance and waited. Archer released the arrow. It split into hundreds of other arrows and came at me from all angles. I sank lower to the ground and began to deflect them one by one. My skill in combat was surprising even to me. Was there a possibility that I had been trained in the ways of the sword when I was alive outside the Moon Cell? As crazy as it sounded, I felt like it held some truth.

The assault stopped and my smirk grew larger. This only proved to make Archer angrier. A spiral sword appeared in his hand and was transformed into an arrow. I wasn't familiar with this attack. My instincts told me that I would need something better to shield me than just my sword. I dropped my weapon and brought my hands in front of me. I manipulated the prana swirling around me into a fully formed shell and prayed that it would hold. Archer released the arrow.

An explosion rocked the area. The pressure was building against my shield. I gritted my teeth but held onto the shield with all of my might. The pressure suddenly died and the smoke was dying down when I dropped my hands.

I had just tilted my head to the side when I felt something nick my cheek and felt my hood fall back. I reached up and gingerly touched my cheek. It felt wet with my blood. Archer had managed to land a hit. Said Servant now stood menacingly in front of me. He took a step towards me but stopped in his tracks when he got a good look at my face. His face was frozen in a shocked mask.

"Is that really…?"

I didn't give him time to finish. I charged forward, snatched my sword from the ground and sliced into Archer's chest. I stepped behind him and landed another blow to his back. He grunted with pain and clumsily jumped away from me. He held his side and was breathing heavily from the pain. I gripped my sword firmly and held it ready to strike again.

"What's wrong Archer? Why did you let her injure you?!"

Archer ignored his Master's demanding tone. He searched my face. "How did you get summoned here?"

"Like every other Servant dumbass! Stop questioning her and attack!" Takuya yelled sounding totally pissed by this point. Archer glared up at him.

I took that opportunity to attack once again. I let out a battle cry as I ran to Archer. My eyes must've looked crazed because Archer seemed terrified as I dug my sword into him. He coughed up blood and slumped to one knee as I removed my sword. It was my turn to breathe heavily from exertion. I brought my sword above my head ready to deal the final blow. Archer glanced up at me as my sword drew closer and closer to his neck. He closed his eyes in resignation.

Memories of the time we spent together clouded my mind and I felt hot angry tears spilling down my face. I stopped my sword mere inches from Archer. One of my tears must've landed on him which caused him to open his eyes and look at me in alarm.

"Damn it." I mumbled more tears pouring down my face. "Damn it. Damn it. Damn it damn it _damn it DAMN IT!_"

I let my sword disappear and turned my back to Archer. My hands rubbed furiously at my eyes attempting to stop the angry tears. I took several deep breaths before I was ready to speak. Reaching down, I pulled my hood back up to cover my face. I didn't look at Archer as I spoke.

"Get your Servant and leave now. Think of this as payment for not attacking us the other night."

Takuya stood on the roof gaping at me. He recovered and jumped down to the ground. He casually walked to his Servant and helped him to his feet. They stayed silent for a moment.

"Thank you," Takuya grumbled.

I waved off his thanks. "Next time we meet, I _will _finish you off."

"I don't doubt you."

Takuya mumbled something to Archer then I didn't feel their presence anymore. I composed myself and turned to my own Master and allies. Shirou looked relieved that I was alright while Rin was fuming with anger. She marched over to me and grabbed me by the collar.

"Why did you let them escape?! You should've finished Archer off right then and there!"

"Give it a rest Rin." Lancer called from behind her. He gave me a pleased smile. "You kicked _ass _Caster. I'm glad I never had to face you in combat before." He thought for a moment. "Well, we haven't gaced each other in _serious _combat anyway."

"What are you talking about?! If we weren't allies you two would've had to fight one another eventually and you still might have to!"

I shook free from Rin's hold. She continued to argue with her Servant as I trudged to my Master. Shirou looked a lot better since I used that healing spell but he was still pretty banged up. I kneeled next to him, my head hung in shame.

"I'm sorry Shirou," I whispered. "I guess my resolve wasn't as strong as I thought it was."

I felt Shirou place his hand affectionately on my head. I looked up at him in surprise. He smiled at my confused look.

"You did the right thing. I'm proud of you Caster!"

A single happy tear slid down my cheek. I ducked my head and smiled gratefully at the boy. "Thank you Shirou."

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: Not a cliff hanger this time! I thought it would be better to end on a sweet note this time around. I apologize for the sloppy fight scenes but I'm not all that great with them to begin with. Bear with me as I try to improve during the duration of this story. As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated! Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Until next time!**


	6. Chapter Six Memories

**DD 62: Again, I apologize for my crappy battle scenes in the previous chapter. I'm also sorry this chapter is a day late. My life is slowly being consumed by a mixture of school and video games. Not a good mixture, let me tell you! Well, shall we continue on?**

**NOTE! This chapter is not told from Caster's point of view but from Archer's. Thought I'd go ahead and state that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or anything else from the franchise. I do own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

My Master was very fickle this time around. One minute he's letting our enemies escape the next he's mounting a surprise attack on their base of operations. I didn't see any flaws in his logic but I would have fought them head on. That's just my style I suppose. My thoughts wandered to my previous Masters.

They were as different as night and day.

My first Master, Rin Tohsaka, had been fiercely independent and tried to give the impression that she didn't let anything bother her. Underneath her rough exterior she had a heart of gold. That was an interesting trait that I had never expected her to have when I first met her in my time as a human. I found it interesting that I was summoned by a person from my previous life. She didn't recognize me luckily. The weirdest part was running into my younger self. I was just as naïve and stubborn as I remembered myself to be. I won't deny that I tried to kill me, I mean him. My Master would have none of that. I was forced to leave him alone and to cooperate with his Servant. I died covering them as they escaped from Berserker. Not my proudest moment but I died with no regrets.

My next Master was even more bizarre than my first. She had a humble, almost pitiful beginning. I had found her collapsed on the floor staring up at me in wonder and confusion. I could feel my irritation rising every minute I spent around her. She was infuriating. Her every action caused me to question why I had answered a summon from such a hopeless Master.

Fate has a funny way of proving me wrong.

My then current Master managed to impress me at every turn. She fought with such an intensity it was hard to believe she was a novice on the battle field. Hakuno was like a flower that flourished under pressure. She had a soft spot for helping people, however, and risked her life to save a version of my first Master. I had been utterly _furious _with her after that. She didn't regret her decision; I had to respect her for that. I knew it wouldn't take long for me to forgive her. I couldn't stay mad at her for some reason. Her big, brown doe eyes were hard to resist.

I was falling for her.

The thought scared the hell out of me. I hadn't let myself get close to anyone else since I was alive. I was a Servant and she was a Master, it wouldn't have worked out anyway. She would return to her life in the real world and I would be left waiting to be summoned by someone else. Or she would die in battle and we would both vanish. Either way, we would be separated. The thought made my heart clench in pain. I was getting too attached.

Then, the truth came out.

She wasn't human. As far as the Moon Cell was concerned, she didn't have the right to exist. She was just a bunch of ones and zeroes. Hakuno didn't know how to react to the information. She had always believed that she had simply lost her memories during the preliminaries and would regain them after winning the war. It was the only thing that kept her going. Now that her purpose was gone, she didn't know what to do with herself. She was back to being the lost, little girl she was when I first met her. It was painful to see her like this.

"Master," I started. She turned her doe eyes to me. They were so lost and practically begged me to help her. "Is what that Rin girl told you bothering you so much?"

She sighed in defeat. "If I wasn't even alive in the first place then what right do I have to kill those who still have a life to return to?"

I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. What did she want me to say? I wouldn't lie to her and say that everything would be alright. She deserved the truth. "Master, I don't have any advice or wisdom to give you. All I know for sure is that there was a reason you survived this long. You were stronger than all of your opponents and your resolve to survive is what has been fueling you since entering this war. Just because it turns out that you're not technically alive doesn't change anything."

She stared at me in awe. Hakuno turned her face away from me and pondered what I said. I had known her long enough to know that she was beginning to see my point. A small laugh escaped her lips. She turned back to me and gave me a gratefully smile.

"Thank you Archer."

I treasured these moments with her. Her smile is what kept me fighting for her; I kept fighting to see that smile. I kept fighting to see her gain victory. I kept fighting because I loved her. The thought still scared me shitless but I knew it was true. I would keep fighting for her until the day I die or the day she grasps victory.

That day would come too soon.

She didn't look more beautiful than when she defeated Leo and his overly chivalrous Servant. She didn't even blink as the deletion program took affect and wiped them from existence. We left the Coliseum in silence and returned to our room to await further instruction. Hakuno took in the layout of our room as if she was trying to memorize every detail. She had certainly obtained quite the collection of decorations over the past seven weeks. Taiga had the oddest tasks for her to do and always rewarded her with some off-the-wall decorations. It did make the bland room feel livelier. She looked up at me as I stepped up behind her. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"You'll be ready for whatever comes next, trust me."

She nodded but didn't look convinced. My other hand twitched as the need to be near her overcame me. I resisted the urge to hug her and simply watched as she went to stare out the window. No more words were exchanged and we waited in silence. Finally, a voice came over the intercom and instructed us to go to the Coliseum to receive the Grail. Hakuno left her post at the window and strode to the door with her head held high. She glanced back to make sure I was following her. I gave her another reassuring smile. We arrived on the first floor and were greeted by that corrupt priest. No matter what universe I met him in he always made my skin crawl.

"Well, I'll admit I never thought you would actually win this war but I have been wrong before."

I glared at him and his condescending tone. No one can talk down to my Master but me. That…sounded better in my head. I half paid attention to their conversation and was relieved when it finally ended. We met Rin at the entrance to the Coliseum and entered at the same time. No words of congratulations or well-meaning lies were exchanged as the elevator took us to our destination. The doors opened and revealed a long path that no doubt lead to the center of the Moon Cell where supposedly the Holy Grail awaited us. I followed dutifully behind my Master as we walked down the path taken by so few before us. I found myself going off on a tangent about how hopeless Hakuno had been in the beginning but how she proved me wrong every chance she could get. I thought I saw her smile at that.

Finally, we arrived at a ramp that led up and disappeared into darkness. Hakuno took a deep breath before ascended the ramp. We came into a room that had a circular shape to it and pillars lining the rim. There were what appeared to be coffins stacked in a pile near the middle that had a figure sitting atop them. He turned his gaze to us as we drew near. His eyes twinkled with excitement and recognition when they landed on my Master. He quickly launched into his introduction and explanation as to why he was there.

Turns out, this lunatic was a copy of the great Twice H. Pieceman. He had gained awareness similar to Hakuno and had savagely fought to win his own war and have his wish to throw the world into eternal war granted. Unfortunately for him, the Moon Cell would delete him as soon as he entered its core if he even attempted to have his wish granted.

"I've waited a long time for someone like you to come along."

He needed someone who could enter the Moon Cell and who was willing to give up their wish to have his come true. That would explain the coffins he sat upon earlier. When Hakuno refused to do as he asked, he summoned a Servant of his own to stand in our way. How did I know something like this would happen? I sprang into action, however, and managed to defeat the enemy Servant. My Master watched sadly as the man disappeared into oblivion. Now that she knew what fate awaited her…

"You ready for this?" Rin asked her voice actually taking on a sad tone.

"Yes," Hakuno said turning to the stairs that lead to her final destination, "I think I am. Good bye Rin, it was nice to have one friend if even for a little while."

Rin looked away from the other female in an attempt to hide her tears. Hakuno sent her an encouraging smile then started up the stairs. I chose to follow her again and was there for her when the truth about her origins surfaced. A real Hakuno existed in the real world placed in an eternal sleep waiting for the day that someone would come along and cure her. A sad fate but it was kinder than the one she faced now.

I drew her into my arms and mumbled encouraging words to her. She buried her face into my chest and said four words that shocked me.

"I love you Archer."

My heart skipped a beat. She admitted what I had been feeling all along. The courage to do so must have been building up since entering this place. I felt her draw away slightly and tightened my grip on her. She looked up at me in surprise. I had my face turned away from her to hide my already hard to see blush. I gathered up my own courage and faced her, a look of hunger, lust, and desperation in my eyes. I mumbled the words back to her and placed my lips onto hers. If this were any other situation, I would have been more aggressive with the kiss, but this wasn't any other situation and this wasn't any other lover. This was my clumsy, humble, infuriating Master.

The kiss was broken too soon. The Moon Cell drug her away from me and I had no choice but to watch as she was deleted. My heart broke as she disappeared and I returned to wherever I go when a war is completed.

~xXxXx~

It wasn't long before I was summoned again this time by a male. I was rather surprised at that. My two previous Masters had been female, maybe I had hoped to be summoned by another.

Hell, I was turning into Lancer.

My new Master was…different than I expected. His views were completely opposite of mine and his attitude irritated the hell out of me. I only had to put up with him for a little while, at least that's what I kept telling myself. It was becoming my mantra.

I wasn't too surprised at who the other Masters turned out to be. Of course Rin would summon a Servant and so would Illya. No doubt Shinji had managed to summon one as well. I hated to admit it but I was curious if the me of this universe would summon Saber or a different Servant this time around.

My curiosity was satiated when Shirou and his Servant were found running away from Illya and her Berserker. I didn't recognize the girl he had summoned. She had quickly placed my Master and me in a barrier to prevent us from interfering with her battle with Berserker and judging by how well the barrier was made I would say she was a Caster. I was impressed with her ability to wield a sword. Maybe in another war she could have been summoned as a Saber. The fight was ended by the arrival of Rin and Lancer. I attacked them when I saw the perfect opportunity as the barrier had shattered when the girl had taken a hit from Berserker's axe. Whereas I wanted to fight them then and there, my Master had ordered me to fall back and leave them alone for now. On our way to his apartment, he explained his plan.

"I have a feeling those two will team up and it will be easier to take them down simultaneously. If I know Emiya half as well as I think I do then he'll open his home to the other pair. We'll attack them at his house."

We did just that the very next night.

The battle had been going in my favor; Caster was hesitant to battle me and Lancer was getting sloppy with his attacks. I was getting cocky though and decided to attack the younger me. There was no Rin to order me to stop this time and my Master seemed fine with my course of action. His Servant quickly came to his aid but was also sloppy with her attacks. I managed to get in a few good shots before Lancer interrupted. He distracted me long enough for Caster to heal herself and her Master. I brushed Lancer aside and shot an arrow in her direction. I knew that the me in this universe would take the hit. I wasn't disappointed.

"Shirou!" Caster shouted in terror. She watched in horror as he fell to one knee clutching at the arrow in his shoulder. Her tone quickly became angry. "What were you thinking?! You could've died!"

"I had to protect you." He managed to wheeze out through the pain.

She scowled at him. "We've been over this already! The Servant is supposed to fight and protect the Master!"

"Yes but you don't want to fight this man, do you?" I found myself confused at his statement. I too had noticed her hesitation when fighting me but hadn't spared it another thought. "You didn't hold back against Berserker but something is holding you back from going all out against this Servant."

He pulled my arrow from his shoulder and stumbled to his feet through the pain. His breathing was heavy and uneven and his stance was off. If he attempted to fight me, he would certainly die.

"Whatever your reason is, I can't allow you to continue this fight! It'll only hurt you if you continue."

"How did you know that?" She whispered in awe.

He gave her a characteristically soft smile and answered, "Because we have a bond. We may not have known each other for very long but it's there."

Caster went silent. It appeared as if she was lost in a memory. After a while, her head tilted towards the ground and she sighed. She lifted her head back up and looked gratefully at her Master. A look of determination took domain over her face as she stood and placed a hand on her Master's shoulder.

"Thank you Master."

A look of shock crossed Shirou's face as his body suddenly tensed up. A paralysis spell? Caster grasped his shoulder and threw him behind her. Rin rushed to his side and began treating his wounds. I leaned towards Caster just as Lancer stepped to her side. He smirked at me while he flourished his lance.

"Are you ready to finally fight seriously now?"

Caster nodded. Her demeanor had taken such a sudden change it was both surprising and impressive. Lancer inched forwards ready to continue the fight. Caster threw her arm up and blocked his path. He shot her a confused look.

"I need to do this on my own."

He chuckled. "So it's gonna be like that, huh?" He buried the head of his lance into the ground and leaned against it. He looked ready to watch a show. "Give him hell, I'll guard these two."

"Thanks Lancer."

Caster was serious now. I could tell by the way she held her sword. This battle got more and more interesting. She lunged at me and swung her sword. I brought my swords up easily blocking her attack. A pain shot through my stomach. While I _had _blocked her initial attack, she had conjured up a dagger and thrust it into my unguarded stomach. I shoved her away and jumped back. I gritted my teeth while pulling the dagger from me. I glared at her and threw the small weapon to the side.

"Playing dirty Caster?"

"All's fair in love and war." Her tone was oddly serious yet teasing at the same time.

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

She smirked. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

I chuckled at her behavior. "A smart ass, huh?" I needed to end this fight. There was only one way to finish it now. I leapt to the roof and shouted, "Let's see how much of a smart ass you are when I'm done with you!"

I felt my swords disappear and gripped my bow tightly. I conjured up an arrow then released it. Caster sunk into position and began to deflect the arrows mine had split into. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I was hoping to avoid using this technique but now I had no choice. A spiral sword appeared in front of me then quickly transformed into an arrow. I notched it and aimed at Caster. Her sword was thrown down and prana was radiating from her. It began to take shape around her forming a shield to protect her from my attack. I would be impressed if it held out. I let loose the arrow and watched as it collided with her shield. Pressure built around the point it had hit and a few cracks appeared. I couldn't see Caster past all the dust that was flying into the air. My arrow exploded having finally given out from the intense pressure. The dust flew into my eyes and I lost my sight for a moment. I heard Caster sigh in relief.

"No way!" My Master shouted in disbelief.

There she stood, completely unharmed and trying to see through the dust. My anger peaked and I sent another arrow at her head. She had luck on her side, however, and had just tilted her head to the side. I jumped from the roof and glared at her. The dust had finally settled enough that I could see her. I gaped at the girl that stood before me.

"Is that really…?"

I never got to finish my question. My former Master charged at me and sliced my chest open. I gasped in pain as she spun around and landed another devastating hit to my back. I stumbled away from her still in shock. I was breathing unevenly and clutching my side. Hakuno stood her ground and held her sword ready to strike again.

"What are you doing Archer? Why did you let her injure you?!"

I ignored my Master. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears. "How did you get summoned here?" Was this all a cruel trick? Her face remained impassive as I stared at her searching for traces of the girl I knew. It all made sense now as to why she was so hesitant to fight me. Did that mean she remembered me?

My Master angrily answered my question. "Like every other Servant dumbass! Stop questioning her and attack!"

I glared at my insensitive Master. A cry made me turn my attention back to Hakuno. She was charging at me with flames in her eyes and radiating the intent to kill. My eyes widened in fear as her sword sliced into me once again. I coughed up blood as she withdrew it from my body. Slumping to the ground, I glanced up at her. She was breathing heavily from the over exertion and brought her sword above her head ready to deal the final blow. I closed my eyes as I heard the sword _swish! _through the air. If anything, I was glad to have seen her one last time. I felt the steel of her blade rest against my neck. A drop of water landed there as well. I reluctantly opened my eyes and stared up at Hakuno. Her teeth were gritted together as tears poured down her face.

She began mumbling to herself in a condescending tone. "Damn it." More tears fell as her words intensified. "Damn it. Damn it. Damn it damn it _damn it DAMN IT!_"

She dismissed her sword and turned her back to me. She reached up and furiously rubbed at her eyes to try and stop her tears. I stared at her in awe. This woman was the strongest I've ever met. Finally calming down, she grabbed her hood and pulled it back over her face. She didn't look at me when she began to speak.

"Get your Servant and leave now. Think of this as payment for not attacking us the other night."

My Master stood shell shocked on the roof staring at Hakuno. He regained his composure and leapt to my side. He roughly helped me to my feet. He paused then turned to Hakuno. "Thank you."

She waved him off. "Next time we meet, I _will _finish you off."

"I don't doubt you." He turned to me and furiously mumbled, "Let's get the hell out of here. I need time to process this battle."

He grabbed my arm and teleported us to his apartment. He let go of me and I collapsed to the ground. I pushed myself up into a sitting position glaring at him. He glared right back.

"What the _hell_ was that? Why did you suddenly start holding back?"

I looked away. "You wouldn't understand."

"It seems to me like you two know each other."

"We did. It seems like an eternity ago…"

My Master cocked his head to the side. "Did you know her as a human?" I refused to disclose that information. He groaned in frustration. He kneeled beside me and started healing my wounds. "You are such a stubborn Servant."

She told me that once. The memory made me smile. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to get lost in those happy memories as my Master continued to work.

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: And that's the end of that! I must confess, I enjoyed writing this chapter quite a bit. It was fun to write the battle from Archer's point of view. Don't be surprised if I do something like this again. Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Until we meet again!**


	7. Chapter Seven Downtime

**DD 62: It took me a while to decide how I wanted this next chapter to go. I had tossed around a couple ideas that I will be using later on but ended up choosing this one. Hope you all enjoy! Also, thank you thank you THANK YOU for all the wonderful reviews! It really makes me happy that y'all are enjoying my story!**

**NOTE! This is Caster's point of view. Don't be surprised if you start seeing the points of view change from here on out.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/EXTRA or anything else from the franchise. I do own a copy of the game and am a loyal fan.**

**~xXxXx~**

Rin and I tended to everyone's wounds. I was relieved to see that Shirou's weren't as bad as I originally thought. I had already started healing them during the fight as had Rin so now they were healing nicely on their own. Lancer had several large gashes and I think we ended up using all of the bandages we could find in the house to treat my own injures. If I hadn't used so much prana to make that shield I would've been healed in a snap. As it was, I was lucky to be alive. That attack Archer used was very powerful but I had never seen him use it before. It was a complete mystery to me as to how it worked.

Rin sighed as she leaned away from her Servant. "There, all done!"

Lancer grinned at her. "Done so soon? Does that mean I need to put my top back on?"

"Yes!" Rin and I shouted together our faces flushed in embarrassment.

"Alright, alright! I can take a hint!"

I chuckled at Lancer's light heartedness. It was impressive how he could change from serious to goofy so fast. I guess spending a lot of time in battles did that to a person; it taught you to take everything lightly but to also be serious when the situation calls for you to be. I needed to work on that, among other things…

"So," Shirou began flinching slightly as he set himself down beside me, "how do you know Archer?"

"He was a Servant in the war I participated in." It was better that he not know that Archer was _my _Servant in the war. I'd tell him, eventually.

"Wait, I thought you said this was your first time being summoned?" Rin asked confusion lacing her voice.

"It is my first time being summoned as a Servant but it isn't my first Holy Grail War."

"How many have you been in?"

"Too many."

Lancer laughed. "Here here!"

"Ugh! Would you stop playing around Lancer?! You'll open your wounds back up at this rate!"

"Do I detect a hint of concern from you my dear Master?"

Rin's face flushed red again. "O-oh course I'm concerned for you! If you're injured that means you can't fight or protect me!"

"That's cold Master!"

Shirou and I laughed at their antics. I noticed that Shirou was leaning a little towards me but ignored it. I didn't mind and he probably didn't realize he was doing it anyway. To be honest, I was also leaning towards him as well. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel comfortable around him. Putting that aside, I sat up straight and addressed my Master.

"Is it my turn to guard you two at school tomorrow?"

"What? No, of course not!" Shirou looked upset that I would even bring that up. "You need time to heal and recover from this battle. Besides, Tohsaka and I can take care of ourselves during the day just fine."

I mentally groaned and face palmed. Were we really going to argue about this again? I was about to snap back at him when Rin cut me off.

"He's right Caster; you still haven't fully healed from this battle with Archer. It would be foolish of you to try and get back out there so soon."

Lancer must've seen my crestfallen look. He reached across the table and patted my hand comfortingly. "Don't worry so much Caster! It doesn't suite your cute face. Besides, I'll be there to keep an eye on them."

"No, you'll be staying here with Caster."

"What?"

Rin huffed at her Servant's baffled expression. "You need to heal too Lancer! Neither of you are of any use in this condition."

"But what am I going to do all day?"

"How the hell should I know? Just use this time to relax and regain your prana."

I glanced at Shirou. He looked relieved that Rin had ordered Lancer to stay behind tomorrow. Maybe he thought it would be nice for me to have some company while he was out. He's obviously not spent enough time around Lancer. Regardless, I hated the thought of being cooped up all day again tomorrow. I had already cleaned what little needed it today so there was nothing for me to do here at the house. I suppose I could clean up the yard; it wasn't in the best shape right now. Then again, that might cause me too much pain. My mind searched for a reason to leave the house for even a short while the next day.

An idea suddenly hit me.

"Why don't we go grocery shopping tomorrow?" At Lancer's confused look, I continued to explain. "W-well, with the four of us living here plus the occasions that Taiga graces us with her presence, we're going to need more food to feed all of us."

"That makes sense I guess." Shirou took one glance at my pleading look and sighed. "Alright, I'll make a list of what we'll need for you and leave some money on the counter. Don't be out too long or draw any attention to yourselves."

I gave him a grateful smile and squeezed his shoulder. We sat there for a little longer and talked about random things. After a while, I could feel my eyes drooping from exhaustion. Shirou noticed and suggested I head off to bed. For once I didn't argue with him and sleep didn't sound like a bad idea at this point. I stood up and mumbled good night before trudging to my room. I didn't bother to change and instead fell face first into my pillow. I was out a minute later.

~xXxXx~

My dreams weren't like I expected and I woke up the next day feeling more refreshed than I had since being summoned. I say the next day because, well, I kind of slept in until midafternoon. I would've slept the day away if it wasn't for Lancer. As soon as I rolled over on to my side, I noticed him sitting there watching me. A shriek left my lips and I slammed my pillow into his face. His laughter at my reaction filled the room.

"What the hell?! Were you watching me sleep?! You're such a creep!"

Lancer continued to laugh. "HA HA HA HA HA! You're too funny Caster! Your face was _priceless_!" He wiped a tear from his eye and stood up. He held out his hand to me. "Well, now that you're awake, why don't we do those chores you suggested yesterday?"

I slapped his hand away. "Shopping isn't a chore; well, it may be for a guy but that's beside the point!"

"Yeah yeah yeah."

I continued to scowl as I stood up and stretched. I could feel Lancer's eyes on me the entire time. I was right, Lancer is a creep. As I started towards the door, he stepped in front of me effectively blocking my path. At my glare, he gestured to me.

"Are you really going out looking like _that_?"

I scowled at him and shoved him from the room. I quickly changed as he laughed outside the door. Rather loudly I might add. Once I was done, I threw the door open and stalked past the blue haired man. He only had to take two steps before he caught up with me. I stopped in the kitchen to grab the money and list of groceries Shirou had left for us. Having that in hand, we left the house heading for town.

~xXxXx~

I sweat dropped as the scene unfolded before me. This was the third grocery store we had hit up today and judging by the way Lancer's conversation was going, it would be the third we would be kicked out of. I flinched as the woman slapped him across the face. She scowled at him and stomped away fuming. I silently prayed that she wouldn't report this to the store's manager. Lancer stood there rubbing his cheek. He walked back to my side a little while later.

"I guess she didn't know how to accept a compliment."

"That's because when a woman gets a compliment from you it ends up being perverted." I sighed in defeat. "Seriously Lancer, that's the third time you've been slapped today; will you ever learn?"

"Probably not."

Well at least he was honest. I ushered him to the front of the store and ordered him to stay there until I returned. He did as I asked leaving me to finally shop in peace. The list Shirou had written for me was on the long side and it didn't help that I had been forced to leave the other two stores before I finished shopping there. I'd get Lancer for that later.

I smiled politely at the cashier as he rang up my purchase. Handing him the money, I thanked him and quickly left the store. I was relieved to see that Lancer hadn't left his spot. I walked over to him and held out the bags. He stared at me in confusion. I rolled my eyes and tapped my foot impatiently waiting for him to understand. After a few more moments of silence, I groaned retracting my arm and the bags.

"Do you have one chivalrous bone in your body?"

"I can be chivalrous when I want to lass."

"Yeah right."

I glanced up as we were passing a crepe stand and stopped in my tracks. My stomach growled and my mouth began to water at the sight of them. I hadn't realized I was _that _hungry. Lancer followed my gaze and chuckled.

"I didn't know you liked sweets." He laughed again at my embarrassed expression. "Do you want to get one?"

"N-no! What gave you that idea? Besides," I glared at him, "you wouldn't hold the bags so I _could _get one _if _I wanted it."

"True, then I guess I'll just have to go get it for you. What flavor would you like?"

I opened my mouth to tell him when his hand slipped into my pocket. I squeaked in surprise and embarrassment. I fumed at the perverted Servant. "W-what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Lancer gave me a lopsided smile. "You are too cute when you're flustered! I'm getting the money from you to go buy you that treat. Now what flavor would you like?"

"I'll just walk over there with you and tell the cashier."

"I insist." He glanced around us and pointed to a railing. "You go wait there and I'll get the food and bring it to you. Now I'll ask again; what flavor do you want?" I mumbled under my breath. Lancer lifted a hand to his ear. "Sorry? Didn't catch that; Care to repeat it for me?"

I huffed at him. "Strawberry!"

"See? Even your flavor choice is cute!" He patted me on the head. "Now be a good little Servant and go wait over there."

I was going to enjoy killing Lancer but to be fair he had it coming.

I did as he asked and walked over to the railing he had pointed to a few seconds ago. Setting the bags on the ground, I placed my hands behind me on the railing and leaned back. With nothing better to do but wait, I decided to watch as people walked by. A few couples walked by being all lovey-dovey and a few families also passed me seeming to be enjoying themselves. It's amazing how naïve they were to what was occurring in their city. Most of them would never know about the Holy Grail War and the magi's struggle to obtain the Grail. It was better to keep them in the dark; that way they don't get hurt or killed. Sad as it may seem, it _was _the best option.

"Ye've got quite an interestin' look on yer face."

I swore and faced the man that was standing behind me. His hair was brown and shaggy with a matching beard. He had a darker complexion than me and looked about as muscular as either Lancer or Archer. Probably just as tall too. He smirked at my reaction. The stranger placed his hands where mine hand been and leaned towards me. I instinctively leaned away. This only made his smirk grow. By the way prana was oozing off of him I knew he was a Servant. The question was what class was he?

"What do you want?" I snapped crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'm hurt! Can't a man just…enjoy the view?" He winked at me causing a blush to overtake my face. He continued on, "I must admit, I'm rather surprised to find another Servant out and about. And a pretty one to boot! What's a fair lass such as yerself doin' out all on 'er lonesome?"

An arm wrapped around my shoulders protectively. I was relieved at first believing it to be Lancer but my relief quickly turned to shock as the voice began to speak.

"Who said she was here alone?" Archer growled. He glared daggers at the other male Servant.

"An alliance hm? Not surprisin'; yer Masters are more than likely vastly superior to mine."

"How unusual for a Servant to disrespect their Master."

"As if you've never done it." I grumbled under my breath as I stepped out of Archer's arm. I glared at him trying to ignore the emotions I felt in his presence. "And what gives you the right to touch me? Last time I checked we were enemies trying to kill each other, Lancer being the exception."

"Ah, so ye've allied yerself with Lancer? Good choice lass; he'll keep ye safe."

"She can take care of herself." Archer argued. He absent mindedly rubbed his neck where my sword had almost decapitated him. This didn't go unnoticed by the other Servant.

"Already been in a quarrel with 'er, eh?"

"Am I interrupting something?" I groaned at Lancer's nonchalant tone. He waltzed over to me and held out my crepe. "Sorry it took so long, I couldn't decide what flavor to get for myself. I thought we could just share one."

"Hell no!" Archer and I chorused together. I blushed at how in sync we were.

Lancer shrugged and threw an arm over my shoulders. Over my head, he sent Archer a challenging smirk. Archer fumed at the blue haired man. The other unnamed Servant chuckled at the two. He gave me a look.

"Seems like ye've got yer hands full lass. I'd offer my 'elp but seein' as we aren't allies…"

"And what brings you here Saber? Your Master finally bore you to death?"

Saber laughed at Lancer's jab. "Aye that he has. Why I was summoned by a lad such as he is beyond my comprehension." He looked around at our group before giving me another wink and turning away. "Farewell lass and good luck with yer lads there! You're gonna need it."

I glared at his back as he walked away. Soon he was out of sight and I was left alone with the other two male Servants. I looked up at Lancer and motioned to the grocery bags.

"Would you carry those for me until I finish my crepe? I'll take them back as soon as I'm done."

He sighed. "I should've known I'd get stuck carrying the bags when I got you that snack." He reached down and grasped the handles of the grocery bags. Standing back up he gave one final look at Archer before facing me again. "Lead on Caster."

I didn't spare another glance to Archer. I simply ignored him as we walked away. No conversation passed between Lancer and me on our way back home. I happily ate on my crepe and had finished it about half way home. When I held out my hands to take the bags from Lancer, he shook his head. He insisted on carrying them the rest of the way. I didn't complain and let him do as he wished.

As soon as we returned home, Lancer set the bags on the counter and I began putting away the things we had bought. With that done, I grabbed a teapot and set to making us some tea. Lancer lounged in the living room while it brewed. I brought a cup over to him once it was done and we sat patiently waiting for Rin and Shirou to return.

~xXxXx~

**DD 62: Short little cutesy chapter. I felt like this story needed at least one funny sort of sweet chapter. I might throw some more in later depending on how the story goes and if it allots enough time for it. Here's a slight hint for Saber's real name, read his dialogue with a Scottish accent. Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Until next time!**


End file.
